Quetzalcoatl's Chain
by I.K.A. Valian
Summary: Raine has headaches. She's hearing a voice. It tells her things. Things about the nature of the Journey of Regeneration. That Cruxis is a lie. That she should prepare for the greatest journey of all, to save the world. An SI unlike any other.
1. Chapter 1

Quetzalcoatl's Chain

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Arc One: Discovery

Part One: Destination Iselia

Chapter One: The Beginning of it All

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Intention: Ever been bitten by a plot bunny that just kept gnawing at you till you wrote it, yeah, this is one of "those" stories. My intention with this story is to create a self insert that doesn't suck. Yeah, I know, the pitfalls are many, but I think I've found a way around them. Also, though I do intend to see this story through to it's end, I'm also not entirely sure where that is. But I do know that it's going to have at least three arcs: Discovery, Growth, and Revelation. Discovery should last until up to or around Palmacosta (in game storyline/easy path). I'm not going to think about Growth Arc until I get there because I want to focus all of my time writing in Discovery on that theme, discovering who, what, where, when, why, and how. All of this while keeping everyone in character. Yeah, it's quite a high bar, but I'm going to do my best.

I'm also going to implement a kind of chapter filing system, providing easier navigation for readers. You can see it above where I list Arc #: name; Part #: name; Chapter #: name. Keep in mind the chapters are like the seconds on a clock, Parts = minutes, and Arcs = hours. Unlike a clock, there won't be sixty chapters to a Part, and on up. In fact, Part One should only last this chapter and the next.

Note: This is a side project, done in my very limited spare time. No update schedule or writing schedule has been creating. If you like it and don't want to keep looking for it, just fav it and wait for an email to notify you. It'd probably be easier that way.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales.

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The first time Raine Sage heard the voice was when she went on an expedition with a respected researcher, Professor Rafleur, and his students to the Triet Ruins. She was only fourteen at the time. She was allowed to go because she was able to prove that her knowledge in the subject of ancient cultures rivaled that of some of the Professor's own students. After making sure Genis would be taken care of for the three month's she would be away, they were off.

She found so many fascinating things while there, becoming more enamored with the ancient world and the truths it held. She brushed off the voice, much like she was brushing the sand off the ancient silver chain, which she would later concluded was the cause of the voice, as mere echoes of the other people at the dig site.

If she were to think back now, and try to remember what the voice said, she'd have a hard time of it. The voice hadn't said much and now it seemed more a blip of sound than actual words in her memory. At the time, the words didn't stand out or make her feel like something out of the ordinary was happening. She was… acutely naïve at the time, caught up in the grandiose ancient edifices surrounding her, instead of being the professional researcher and recording every little detail for later study.

The second incident with the voice was upon her return with Professor Rafleur to Palmacosta. The old academy was still being refurbished and everything from the dig had to be housed in a nearby warehouse. It was in this warehouse that Raine came upon the same silver chain she'd found in the ruins. As she reached out to stroke the silver, a spark of electricity jumped from the delicately crafted metal to her fingertip.

Shocked, she snapped her hand back, cradling it with her other hand against her chest. She checked for injury and then studied the chain again. It looked brighter somehow, as if its dingy surface were cleaned. Several chains of thought ran through her head at this point.

_Is this silver chain reactive to Mana? Can it sense when a Mana capable person is nearby? Would it react to anyone who had Mana reserves, or is it just because I'm a Half-elf? Could it be that this is a piece of Magi-technology?_

Her eyes snapped open wider as that last thought cleared her mind. She quickly glanced left, and then right. Upon finding the warehouse empty, she reached out and snatched the chain, then bolted. As she dashed away, it was then that she heard the voice.

"_Where am I?_"

Even now, she could remember those words clearly, as if they'd been whispered into her ear. At the time though, she was more occupied with making a clean get away. The next day, alarms were raised. It turned out that more than one item was stolen the night before. But she knew the drill. They'd come looking for anything they could find from her, suspecting someone who looked like a Half-elf first, even though they'd bought the lie about being pure bloods.

So she packed up everything and said her goodbyes. Professor Rafleur understood, of course, and extended an open invitation for her to return whenever she wanted. He would also extend the same invitation to her brother over a year later, shortly after Genis turned five, when he aced the entrance exam to the newly re-opened academy.

It was while they were stopped in Luin that Genis took the test. She was contemplating returning with Genis to Palmacosta, so he could attend the academy and she could try for a teaching position. She was reasonably confident she could get the position, given how much more studying she'd completed since leaving the city. The only pause in this consideration was when she found that silver chain in her bag.

She'd studied the silver chain after leaving Palmacosta for almost a week, trying to recreate the spark. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that it was just an ordinary chain. The spark must have been from static electricity and the voice in her head was more than likely herself. Though, the idea that she didn't know her location was a bit confusing.

Thus, as she lifted the chain out of her bag and started walking toward the door with the intention of selling it to the nearest store, she was startled when her whole arm when numb. The arm holding the silver chain. All the planned routes to the store behind the inn, who to avoid if she saw them, and how much she could get for the chain vanished.

"_The land north of Triet," _the voice said.

She stared at her arm, likening it in her mind to some foreign object or monster that had attached itself her arm. The numbing sensation slowly started to dissipate, almost as if the presence she felt in her flesh was evaporating like heated water. Fearing that the presence would disappear again and before she could think of what to do, a question was out of her mouth before it could register in her brain.

"Why?"

"_The land north of Triet,_" the voice repeated. "_You… the Chose…"_

By now, her mind was working in over time, but any more questions she asked, shouted, demanded, were in vain. Even as the voice was speaking, the last of the numbing sensation was evaporating. She surmised that was why it grew too faint to hear at the end.

For a while, after she calmed down, she sat on the bed she and Genis shared. She stared at the wall, her expression blank, her hair in need of a combing. A few times she glanced down at the silver chain before she returned to searching the wall. Within her mind, the new experience was being integrated into the knowledge of the silver chain that she already had.

It was clearly magical in nature, even though it belied this nature when it didn't react to Mana or commands made verbally or mentally. She concluded that whomever made this ancient trinket, made it so that its magics couldn't be messed with by someone who didn't know what they were doing, a kind of safety to keep it from breaking. That aside, she realized, moments before Genis arrived back from school that day, that she wasn't going figure out what this was or how to use it based on the knowledge she currently had.

As soon as she had this realization and was thinking of what to do with it, Genis arrived. He was all smiles and grins as he bounced in the door to their one room home of the moment. Brandishing his test score results like a badge of honor, he prattled on the whole evening about how impressed everyone was with his score. But she barely heard a word of it because a new worry pressed upon her mind now.

She couldn't deprive Genis of this chance for an education, just so she could traipse off to Triet or wherever her search took her to figure out this chain. But then, she was also the only family he had left. She couldn't just abandon Genis in the Academy either. And this mystery wouldn't allow her to sleep at night. She had to choose between her brother and a mystery that refused to die.

It was that mystery that ended up making the decision for her. For while she was contemplating how many trips she could take between helping Genis study and get good grades, the silver chain grew warm. It was only for a moment, but it was long enough for her to recognize it was there. After glancing at it for the briefest of moments, the two choices in her mind seemed to merge together into one, mixing with the cryptic message that the voice had given her.

"Genis," she said, interrupting whatever he was saying about the stew he was making. "I'm sorry, but we're headed toward Triet. Palmacosta is the other way."

"What?!" He dropped the soup ladle into the large pot boiling in front of him. It became lost amidst the frothy mishmash of beef, vegetables, and broth. But Genis had instantly forgotten what he was doing and was now focused on her, his mouth hanging agape slightly. "But sis, didn't you hear anything I said about my test scores? They want me to go to the Academy. The Academy! It's the best school in all of Sylvarant! I thought you said that one day we'd go back and stay there. This is the perfect opportunity. Maybe then we can…" Genis' rant died off as the unspoken words barely escaped his mouth.

She knew, of course, what he wanted to say. That they'd be able to settle down and not keep moving around, searching. But her mind was made up, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Standing, she moved next to her brother and hugged him, gently holding him against her. The way he desperately clung to her made her think of how she would do the same to her mother, eliciting an unasked for emotional response in herself.

"We must go on," she said firmly, but with a soft voice, belying the growing emotions inside. She internally recited the reasons her mother gave her, at least the ones she could remember, for staying on the move. "Maybe in the future, you can go to the Academy, but for now, we need to stick together. We're all we have to call family. We're the only ones who we can trust our secrets too. As far as your education goes, I'll teach you. I'd more than likely be one of your teachers at the Academy anyway, if we were to go back."

"When will it end," Genis asked, but she clearly felt him trembling under her embrace and the words were garbled by sobs. Bitter tears were threatening to fall from her own eyes, but she forced the bile down and calmed her emotions. She had to be strong and protect her little brother. "When can we stop moving?"

"Soon," she whispered, her voice intentionally quiet to keep from betraying the emotions roiling underneath her calm exterior. After a few moments more, which she took to push those depressing emotions further down into her psyche, she went on. Her lips moved slowly, almost as if she wasn't sure she was forming the right words. "We're headed toward Triet, but our final destination lies far north of there."

"Where?" Genis asked, raising his head to look into her face. She emphasized the word 'final' when she'd said it. Genis' hopeful yet scared face as he looked up at her made her stomach lurch and brought tears anew to her eyes. "Are we going to stay there? Will it be… safe?"

"We're going to a village in the lands north of Triet," she said. She hoped that the voice was referring to the only town she knew to be in that area, since that's where she decided they were going. "To a village said to be the birthplace of oracles. It's named, Iselia." Genis fell silent as he contemplated this new information. Raine took this opportunity to look into the boiling pot of stew. There was a layer of froth on the top as vegetables and meat bobbed up and down on the surface. She gave the pot a lopsided glance before she let go of Genis to reach out. "I think this needs some more Liquorish."

Genis blanched whiter than his hair.

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Posted 2/21/2010


	2. Chapter 2

Quetzalcoatl's Chain

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Disclaimer: I do not own Tales.

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Arc One: Discovery

Part One: Destination Iselia

Chapter Two: Method of Communication

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"_There will be a long time of loss. Big city will have destruction. Small city will have destruction. The evil half-elves will have destruction. The special regenerator will not save the world. The Heroes will come about. The planets will combine. The caller will gather the spirit promises. A new world has a horizon. Don't like the winged beasts._"

Images, words, ideas, feelings, all flowed through her dreams as of late. Sometimes, her dreams were of grand cities, crowed by buildings impossibly tall. The streets were lit by lamps that had no smoke or fire in them. The streets were paved black. There were people everywhere. And contraptions that looked like metal carriages, only they were self propelled.

Other times, her dreams were of vast fields of grain, and some other vegetables she'd never seen before. The paved roads were there too, but so were a mix of animals she had and had not seen before. One kind in particular looked like a cow, only it had really large horns that extended out from his head in either direction. And the sky was so clear, clearer than she'd ever seen it before.

Even when she was awake, the deluge of sensations didn't cease. She wouldn't hear the voice talking, but sometimes pungent, sometimes sweet smells would invade her nose. Other times, sounds like beeping horns or wailing sirens would invade her ears, yet nothing would be causing them. Smooth and rough textures would rub against her body, but nothing would be there.

Her first impression of the voice was a guiding light from Martel. But now she was convinced that it was a demonic curse placed upon the silver chain. She'd wanted to sell it, back when she and Genis were passing through Hima. When no one would buy it, she tried throwing it off of a cliff, but some girl found it minutes later and returned it to her. She guessed that being unable to part from the chain was part of the curse.

The journey from Luin to Triet took nothing short of thirteen months of travel. They'd found a caravan of missionaries from the Church of Martel. They were on their pilgrimage and were traveling, en mass, toward the birthplace of the most recent Chosen of Regeneration. At the time, she'd thought it was providence that she and Genis would find a traveling caravan, containing over fifteen covered wagons, so soon after setting their sights on Iselia.

That caravan was shortly thereafter attacked by hoards of bandits. Half the wagons were stolen in one night, among other things. Then one of the remaining wagons caught on fire. Food supplies ran short. People got sick or died. And the whole time, that voice grew stronger.

It went from a whisper to a full throated roar. It was using her voice too. That fact vexed her and any attempts to figure out why only served to make her more frustrated than she already was. What with her worsening sleep patterns, lack of proper nutrition, and having to stay alert to protect Genis, she was barely able to hold herself up six months into the journey.

After that point, Genis had enough and started demanding answers, which she just wouldn't give. So he settled for taking over her duties of keeping a look out. She'd tried to object, but by then, she was too weak to object. Her immune system had been weakened by the stress and she'd caught the fever running through the missionary group. She was placed in the wagon reserved for the sick.

She wasn't sure how she made it the second leg of the journey. Half of the time she was unconscious, listening to the voice, seeing the images it wanted her to see, hearing sounds, smelling foreign scents, and so on. Whenever she woke from her fever, usually at night, she tried to stay awake, to ward off the voice and the nauseating display it provided to her weary mind, but the fever was relentless and took her back under.

So it was, that when the caravan finally arrived in Triet, she only made it a couple steps before she slumped to the ground and sprawled out in the sand. She could hear Genis begging people for help, but she never learned if anyone paid him any attention because the black edges around her vision swallowed her up.

"Am I dead?" She listened to her voice fade into the darkness. She frowned. Something felt wrong here. Something was out of place. "I must be dead," she said after a thought dawned on her. She couldn't keep the happiness she felt, and the relief, from seeping into her words. Nor could she keep the smile from growing on her face. "If I weren't, then I'd still be hearing that voice."

She looked about her, studying the black space she now occupied. "This sure isn't how I imagined the afterlife to look like though." She was seated, she knew that much. Though she couldn't see them, she could feel her legs sprawled out to her left.

"Qbun nby… Luchy? Qbun uly sio xicha byly_?_"

Whatever hope that'd been born in her euphoria died an early death and her smile immediately turned upside down. The voice was behind her. However, as the voice continued to speak, she realized it sounded different. Now the voice was deeper and vaguely masculine. If she hadn't been hearing voices in her head for the past year, she'd have thought there was a tinge of fear in the voice.

"No," she said loudly, as if saying so would make the voice go away. "This can't be happening! I die only to hear another voice. Why Martel?! Why can't I have peace?! What did I do to deserve this?!" Her heart was hammering in her chest by time she finished crying. Her breathes were coming in short gasps as, she realized, she lost control over her body and began to convulse. There was no pain, as she found odd. Shouldn't she be suffocating? Yet, even as she feebly tried to regain control over her movements, she realized that there was no point in it. Ultimately, she was dead.

Then it was in front of her, a being made of pure light with a humanoid shape. It had a head, arms, legs, and a torso, but those were the only features she could make out. It kneeled down in front of her and reached out to her. She lay there, flopping around, wishing she could back away until finally it came into contact with her. After that, the being held onto her with a surprisingly strong, warm hand, until she calmed down.

It didn't attack her, nor did it speak her ear off. It must be different from the cursed voice she was hearing, she reasoned. Not to mention, she couldn't understand a single thing it had said thus far. As she continued to watch it, the being, satisfied that she wasn't going to panic again, pulled back.

"Who are you?" she asked, her own voice sounding smaller than it normally did. The being made of light said nothing. The only response she got was when it cocked its head to the side. "What are you? Why are you here? Why am I here? Where is here?"

"Fiie, C ehiq nbcm fieem vux, vo-"

She held her hands up, motioning for the light being to stop. "I can't understand you," she said. She shook her head and then pointed to her ear. "Your words sound like gibberish," she said loudly, enunciating each word as clearly as she could.

"Wluj! Uznyx uff nbcm ncgy, C mncff wuh'n…"

She shook her head, hoping that he understood she didn't understand him. The being groaned and began to stand. It stopped midway and held up a hand, pointer finger in the air. To her mind, it looked like he'd had an idea. She watched the being kneel on the ground and lean in real close. He was so close she could feel his breath against her ear.

"Vyul qcnb gy," he whispered, "von sio lyuffs b-ave to wake up Raine. Wake up!"

She frowned upon actually comprehending what the being said, and turned her head to look at him, but the movement made her head swim. The being of light began to spin around and around. Soon he blurred and merged with the formless black around her. And then, like breaking the surface of water, she woke up.

Her eyes didn't want to open, but open they did. Though it felt like pushing rusted metal parts, her eyelids slid apart and she saw. At first she thought it was the being of light standing above her, but her vision came into focus, she realized she was staring up at the ramparts of a tent.

"She's awake!" Genis appeared, as if magically teleporting to her side. Her hearing was muted, as if there was cotton shoved into her ears, but she could hear people speaking in the background. "Raine! Are you okay? Say something! Sis!"

"Come, come, child." It sounded like the voice of a kindly old woman. Genis looked away from her, off to the other side of the tent. She wanted to look too, but her whole body ached like she'd been trampled by a dragon. Even thinking about moving hurt. "The fever may have broken, but she still needs her rest. Please, if you would, go inform the Chosen for me, while I tend to your sister."

Genis disappeared from her side after nodding to whoever was speaking to him. She opened her mouth and tried to call him back to her, but all that came out was a soft gasp. Pushing against her aching body, and ignoring the cries of her muscles, she tried to sit up. The moment she moved, however, her vision swam and a headache bloomed behind her eyes. She fell back down into the bed with a soft thump and was forced to close her eyes to keep the world from spinning.

"Rest easy, young lady," said the old woman. She heard the elder lady making her way across the tent. A warm, gentle hand was placed on her shoulder. "My name is Phaidra. You've just recovered from the plague," she said. "Not an easy thing to do, mind you. Your brother was begging for help, bless him. If we hadn't arrived, then in all likelihood, you two wouldn't have received any help at all, what with you being what you are."

She opened her eyes, startled by the realization that this woman knew what she was. She fought the sway in her vision to look at the aged woman, blond hairs mixed in with white, grey, and silver. Wrinkles crisscrossed her pudgy face, evidence of as many smiles as frowns. She tried to speak, to say anything, to head off the possibility of being found out. If her rescuer knew that she was a half-elf, then-

"Oh, don't worry," Phaidra said, upon seeing the look Raine was giving her. "I'm a priestess for the Goddess. She loves all beings, no matter the blood in their veins."

"Grandmother! Grandmother! Genis said his sister woke up! Is that true? Is that true?"

A smile lit up Phaidra's face as she laughed and hugged a small blond girl that practically jumped into her arms. The little girl first looked up at her grandmother and then turned those huge blue beacons onto Raine. She gave a little gasp and moved closer to the bed.

"She is awake!"

"Sis!" Genis appeared next to the small girl, both of them now staring down at her. Seeing the worry written all over their young faces made her close her eyes, but not from being dizzy. She felt ashamed. Ashamed because she was supposed to be the one taking care of Genis, not the other way around. "Will she be okay?" Genis asked.

"Oh, she'll be quite fine," Phaidra said. "She's past the worst of it. She just needs to rest and recover. In a few weeks time, she should be as good as she was before. Though, she will have trouble breathing if she gets too excited. The plague has ravaged her lungs."

"But… she'll live, right?" Phaidra nodded.

"Yay!" The little girl laughed. "I'm happy that Genis gets to keep his sister. I wish I had a sister. Genis! Do you think that when you're sister gets better, she can be my sister too?"

Genis was startled at first, when the blond girl spun on her heel and grabbed onto him. But after a moment of thought, he said, "I don't know."

Phaidra laughed, saving Genis from his torment in the hot chair. "Chosen, perhaps Genis would like some food. Would you take him to see what he would like to eat?"

"Oh, yes, Genis must be starving. He's been in here all day waiting for sister Raine to wake up! C'mon Genis!" The blond girl grabbed Genis' hand and without waiting for him to catch up to her, dashed away. Raine could only hear him screaming her name, Colette, as they exited the tent.

Phaidra laughed and turned to Raine. "I must apologize for my granddaughter's behavior. She's still got a lot to learn as a Chosen, but I don't have the heart to take the laughter from her." Phaidra fell silent for a moment, looking away from Raine, toward where she assumed was the entrance to the tent.

"That, however, is neither here nor there," Phaidra continued. "Right now, we can't just leave you all the way out here, on the edge of the desert. With you in your state, I'd never hear the end of it from the Chosen and, truth be told, I'd probably not be able to forgive myself either.

"What we need to figure out is how to get you into the village without the Mayor having you stoned to death as soon as he sees you. I may heed the Goddess' word that all are loved, but that doesn't apply to everyone. I suppose the cover story your brother told was adequate enough. However, the case he made for you two being elves was so full of holes, I could ride a dragon through it. I will just have to lend my name to your credit. That should sate his caution."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Here was a human, the guardian of the Chosen, her very grandmother. This woman was standing here, thinking of way to help hide the fact that she was a half elf. She lost count of the number of emotions flowing through her. Their power overwhelmed her and forced her to close her eyes again, as tears began streaming down her face.

"_I finally can speak to you without your sub-conscious getting in the way._" Her eyes popped open and she moaned. Phaidra cooed at her and applied a wet towel to her forehead. Otherwise incapable of speaking, she was subject to whatever the voice wanted to say, unable to respond. "_I don't know what happened, but you came close to dying. Good thing you didn't, or we'd both be in up a river without a paddle. Now that I'm finally able to speak to you, I want to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overload you with my memories. Interacting with your mind is a lot harder from the inside than it looks, at least from where I'm at. I was trying for the longest time to make your sub-conscious say the equivalent of what I was saying, but it had some unintended side-effects._

"_Raine, let me just say that I didn't want to be brought here. Not that your mind is a bad place to be, but I was perfectly happy with my life before this happened. Wow… I can't believe it's been a year already. I hope everyone back home is okay._

"_I'm sure you have a lot of questions. But I don't know how often I can get this communication thing to work right. I think the only reason it's working now is because you were so close to dying. I don't know… Psycho-architecture, for lack of a better word, is not my forte. Anyway, if we aren't able to communicate for a while, then I'll tell you what I can now. Above all, the most important thing to remember is Cruxis is a lie… Other than tha-n C mbiofx- Wluj! C lypylnyx. Luchy! Lygygvyl, Wlorcm cm u fcy! U fcy!

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_

Posted: 2 - 27 - 2010

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Preview

Part Two: Adjusting

Chapter Three: A New Home

Summary: Raine and Genis settle in Iselia. Raine meets many new people, starts figuring out a way to communicate with the voice in her head. Meanwhile, Genis makes a new friend.


	3. Chapter 3

Quetzalcoatl's Chain

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Disclaimer: I do not own Tales.

* * *

Arc One: Discovery

Part Two: Adjusting

Chapter Three: A New Home

* * *

Recovering from the plague wasn't something Raine ever thought she'd find herself doing. It did, however, grant her large amounts of free time without the need to worry about things that other people were currently worrying about. She'd tried to help, but she was turned away from helping keep watch, helping carry anything heavier than the clothes on her body, even from helping cook.

In all this free time, she took to wandering around whenever the Chosen's Caravan halted for a break during the week long journey to Iselia from Triet. While on the move, she was forced to sit in one of the jostling covered wagons, which was deathly boring. So she used that time to catch up on some of the texts she'd missed reading while suffering from the plague. However, she wasn't always reading, or wandering, or sleeping whenever her energy dipped too low. She made sure no one could see her when she wrote in the new journal she'd acquired before they left Triet.

She began by writing down what she remembered from what the voice had told her. The first sentence, in fact, was "Cruxis is a lie." She knew, which was the reason for such obsessive secrecy, that if anyone found this journal, they'd either brand her a heretic that needed to be burned at the stake, or just an insane person that needed to be locked up to keep everyone else safe. In a way, it reminded her of how she hid her and Genis' heritage for the last several years.

After the first line, she put down as best she could what she remembered of what the voice said about not wanting to be in her head, missing some home, and something about psycho-architecture. That word seemed to stick in her memory, though for what reason, she couldn't fathom in the least. Writing down all of these things from memory wasn't too difficult, since there weren't that many things that the voice had said, in his native voice.

Once she finished jotting down what the voice had said to her in the minute after the plague had broken, she did her best to note all the things that had happened to her since finding the silver chain. The silver chain she now kept around her neck, underneath her shirt. It felt safer to keep it there, out of sight and as close to her body as physically possible without swallowing it. Recalling all the events that related to the chain were usually mixed up with the delusions the plague had forced on her. She was constantly wondering if what she remembered was really from the chain or not.

Yawning, she put down her pencil and closed the green notebook. Then she reached up and touched the metal links hidden beneath her shirt, focusing on the cool feel of the silver against her skin. A slight charge from the chain made her skin tingle. Then some of the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She noticed this happening whenever the voice decided to speak, and yet, after feeling it happen what had to be over a hundred times already, it still made her shiver.

"_Cmyfcu,_" the voice said.

"Raine! Raine!" Startled, she gasped and stuffed the journal underneath her butt as quickly as she could, whilst attempting to remain calm outwardly, when the tarp behind her back was lifted by Genis. Her brother stopped before he said whatever it was he was going to say in the first place and gave her an odd look. "Sis, what's wrong? Do you feel okay? Maybe you should lie down and get some more rest."

"I'm fine, Genis," she said as calmly as her jittery nerves would allow her. He'd almost seen it. She was mostly sure he hadn't seen her hide it. It helped that he was too short to see all the way inside of the wagon. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

Genis continued to watch her with concern as he spoke. "We're almost to Iselia. I can see it in the distance and it's really pretty in the sunlight… but I really think you should get some more rest. Remember what the doctor said, you can't push yourself or you won't get better."

"Thank you, Genis," she said. She paused for a moment, and then said, "I think you may be right though. I do feel a bit tired. Wake me when we get there, okay?"

"Of course, sis," Genis said. Though he was still worried as he watched her, she caught a glimpse of relief as he let the cover fall back down, concealing her from the outside world again. Her heart thudded loudly in her ears and her arms shook as she took several long, deep breathes. She felt as if she had been caught, and wasn't sure if it was relief or terror residing in her bones right at that moment.

After making sure that the notebook was securely hidden amongst her other books, she stood and made her way toward the front of the wagon. The covered wagon she was in was one of three such transports. One was reserved for the Chosen and her Grandmother, while the other two were for supplies. Seeing as their journey was nearing completion, most of their supplies were used up, conveniently making a space for one half-elf recovering from the plague.

The wagons themselves were supported by iron springs mounted on two axels with giant wooden wheels attached to them. The covering was basically a white sheet supported over the six by three foot wagon interior by three curved iron beams. This construction left a lot of interior room that was effectively separated from the outside and whatever adverse weather that might go with it. It also meant that it was hot and stuffy, even on a cool, damp morning such as this.

She breathed the fresh air in deeply when she reached the front of the wagon and pushed back the cloth separating the inside of the wagon from the outside. After taking a moment to regain her bearings, she saw it, a small village surrounded by a wooden barricade and one watch tower overlooking a flung open wooden gate. The sun was just rising over the hill to the east, bathing the residences and other buildings in a golden red hue.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

She looked away from the majesty of the morning and focused her attention on the older man, named Bernard, guiding the domesticated dragon pulling the wagon. He held the reigns in one hand while shielding his eyes from the sun with the other, but his focus was on the town in front of them. In response to his question, she dipped her head in a nod and looked back at the village.

"It's quite a sight, yes," she said, "I hope my brother hasn't been bothering you out here."

"Nothing of the sort," Bernard said with half a scoff and a smile. "He's been nothing but a help, not to mention, constantly worried about you. And he seems to have become fast friends with the Chosen. You wouldn't believe it, but for such a nice young lady, she doesn't have many friends. Most of the folk in town are too afraid to let their children get near her."

"That's horrible," she said. She looked down and, growing tired of standing bent over, sat down on the edge of the wagon. "Though I do suppose that I can understand why. She's the Chosen who will finally defeat the Desians and revive the Goddess. It's only natural to want to make sure nothing happens to her."

"That's about it," Bernard said. "You're pretty insightful for someone so young."

"I was aiming to become a teacher at the Palmacosta Academy," she said. She studied her hands, having nothing better to look at and suddenly awash with feelings of modesty. The skin of her palms were rough and cracked, evidence of all the years of her travel. She smirked at the thought of her settling down and teaching.

"Care to let me in on the joke?"

"Hmm?" Raine looked up, realizing that Bernard had seen her smirking and was now watching her curiously. "Oh, I was just thinking. Me being a teacher… it doesn't seem like my vocation in life, after all the traveling and other things I've done to get by."

"Don't count yourself out of the position just yet, young lady," Bernard said. "You might just have what it takes. And, last I saw of her two weeks ago, old teacher Marrith wouldn't stop moaning and groaning about how much her body ached. That old bitty has been the bane of Iseilian children for the past few decades, so I suppose she'll be retiring soon. We'll need a new teacher after that."

"I know I can do it," she said, clenching her hands into two fists. "I've been teaching my brother for most of the past year, at least until I wasn't able to anymore. But… Is teaching what I should be doing with my life? Should I devote my life to the young minds of that would become my charges, or… should I still be searching for my path?"

"I can't really answer those questions," Bernard said, "but things like that have a way of revealing themselves in due time. At least, they do in my experience."

The two of them continued to converse as the chain of wagons rolled up to the village entrance. As soon as they were in the village square, Colette's wagon stopped, which signaled all the wagons behind to stop. Swarms of people came out of the woodwork, whether from houses or from side alleys that weren't entirely visible, to welcome Colette and her escort.

Genis appeared next to her wagon, from wherever he was before, to help her get out. Bernard introduced the two of them to his wife, Alice. She appeared just as old as Bernard with a shriveled up face and a constant pout. Despite the outward appearance, Alice was pleasant and had a genteel demeanor.

After that, the entire day was filled with unpacking the things brought back by the Chosen and meeting new people. Surprisingly, at least to Raine's sensibility, the voice was entirely quiet. Except for that small blurb earlier in the morning, there was nothing but her own thoughts within her mind.

The mayor, whom she and Genis were presented to soon after arriving, did allow them to stay in the village. It took some convincing, but Phaidra was right when she said lending her name to their credit would get them in the door. The ancient man, who was more silver hair than flesh and bone, didn't seem all that convinced, but with a soft huff and an indifferent grunt, he'd granted them entrance.

Until they could find lodgings of their own, Phaidra graciously offered her own house for her and Genis. She'd initially wanted to stay at the local Inn, but that idea quickly got thrown out the window when she found all their Gil gone. Journeying to the other side of the world wasn't cheap, after all.

She and Genis left Phaidra and her son in law Frank, Colette's father, at the Mayor's house to discuss other matters and were escorted to Colette's home by the Chosen herself. The trip was relatively short, since the two houses were right next to each other. But Colette exhibited the exuberance of a hyperactive Chihuahua tour guide, pointing out the different fruits growing on vines, who planted them, whose houses were where, the sordid history of a closed off water-well, and ultimately, a ten cent tour of everything in her home.

So it was that, at the end of the day, she just finished putting Genis to bed when the voice finally decided to remind her that it was still there. She was descending the stairs from the second floor into the kitchen when the chain made a snapping noise as it zapped her. She felt all the hairs across her body stand on end. With a small gasp, she grasped her chest and the chain under her shirt, as she stumbled toward the table, her body quickly going numb.

She barely managed to sit down before her legs gave out and she slumped forward onto the table. For an idle moment, she watched the world sideways, wondering what was going on. She didn't feel dizzy or anything of the sort, yet her body was paralyzed. After a few moments, the spell past and she was able to sit up straight again.

She took several deep breathes, which turned into a long series of deep breathes. Her heart was racing as if she'd been running, and her chest hurt where her lungs expanded. It took several long minutes to calm down, but did eventually calm down.

"_Mills,_" the voice said quietly.

"Would you please kindly never do that again," she rasped.

"_C mucx C qum mills…_" Raine moaned and leaned forward to place her forehead on the table.

"We need to figure out how to communicate, because I still can't understand the gibberish you're speaking. Would it be possible for you to learn my language?"

"_C xih'n bupy uhs jlivfyg ohxylmnahxcha sio…_"

Raine sat back and rubbed her face. The sun had long ago fallen under the horizon to the west behind the tall mountains that stood watch over Iselia. The only source of light in the room was the lonely lantern sitting in the middle of the table. It was set to low so the oil fuel didn't get used up too quickly. Standing, she picked up the lantern and moved to the window and looked out into the village. She knew she wasn't the only one still awake, since there were lights and shadows moving against the windows of other houses.

"When I thought I'd died, I saw a man made of light… That was you wasn't it?" She felt a slight tingling from the chain and took that as an affirmative. "I didn't understand a lot of what you said then either, but it looked like you understood what I was saying."

"_C'g cgjlymmyx…_"

"I don't remember it clearly, but I do remember a lot of what you said afterwords, when I could understand you. So… somehow, you were able to speak clearly to me and I could understand you. Would it be possible to do that again… or was it simply because I was so close to death, as you said when I could understand you."

"_Nbun'm qbun C'py vyyh nlscha ni-_"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. I'm sorry if I made you angry. I'll just take that to mean you can't do it or you can't figure out how." Her shoulders slumped as she conceded defeat, for the moment at least. She'd eventually figure out a way to talk to this voice. When that day came, oh, the grilling it would get. She glowered at her reflection in the glass, hoping that wherever in her head the voice was, it could see the look she was giving it.

"Raine?" Raine turned away from the window and found Phaidra just descending the last step of the stairs. "I thought I'd heard someone talking down here. Who were you talking to?"

"Oh, myself… mostly," Raine responded, as she moved away from the window and returned the lantern to its home. "There's been so much going on, it's hard to deal with at times."

"Ah yes," Phaidra said knowingly, "the confusion of youth." She made her way into the kitchen where she filled a kettle of water from a nearby barrel of standing water. As she prepared to boil it on the stove, she continued, "I'm afraid that most things in life are too complicated to understand fully. You'll eventually just get used to always 'not knowing' for sure. Would you like some tea?"

"I don't think so, but thank you. I should be heading to bed anyway." Raine turned to head back up the stairs.

"It will help to calm your mind…"

Raine paused, left foot lifted halfway up the first step. Though she knew that it wasn't likely to work, the irrational part of her mind won the argument in the end. "On second thought," she said, turning around, "sure, I'll have some."

* * *

Preview

Part Two: Adjusting

Chapter Four: Looking for Answers

Summary: Raine and Genis have a new home. But now that everything has settled down, fate stirs again. Though she'd rather just stay in her new home and get used to her new life, she will be driven to the south. There, the hands of fate have been busy.


	4. Chapter 4

Quetzalcoatl's Chain

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales.

* * *

Arc One: Discovery

Part Two: Adjusting

Chapter Four: Looking for Answers

* * *

As soon as Marrith heard Raine was a possible candidate for taking over as teacher of the Iselian School, the old woman stopped going in to work. The Mayor asked, through Phaidra, if Raine could take over before her credentials arrived from the Palmacosta Academy. Though Raine was a bit miffed that the Mayor wouldn't ask her himself, she refused to let the children go without an education. So she took the position.

It took an entire month for the Palmacosta Academy to send their response to the Mayor's request for Raine's credentials. During that time, she and Genis obtained a quaint little house on the outskirts of the village, right up against the wood barricade. There was even a small pond in front, produced by frequent deluges of rain.

The Mayor asked that Phaidra bring her to his house the evening he finally received the Academy's response. She was writhing her hands in and out of the other as she and Phaidra made their way to his house, her mind full of possible doom and gloom scenarios. She was in the middle of preparing an explanation for Genis for why they had to leave when they were admitted into the Mayor's residence.

"Are you well enough to travel?" were the first words out of the man's mouth. She stood there speechless in response. Fortunately, Phaidra answered for her.

"She is still recovering from the plague," the elder woman said. "The doctor said she shouldn't be doing any heavy traveling or hard work for a few months. It's bad enough she had to start working at the school so soon."

"We both know that couldn't be helped," the Mayor said, his huge whiskers moving with every word spoken. "Regardless, I've been _requested_ to bring Raine Sage to Triet with me where I am to meet with the _Palmacosta Academy Representative_ to accept her credentials in person. Damn city folk and their uptight paperwork. Why can't they just say, 'yeah, she's good,' and be done with it?"

The next day, she found herself packing a leather sack with food and other provisions. Genis sat on his bed, his mouth twisted sideways as he stared at the floor. She sighed after glancing at him for the hundredth time and said, "Stop pouting. I said I'd be back in three weeks. While I'm gone, I want you to behave yourself. Don't give Phaidra a headache and don't stay up too late. And don't forget to wash behind your ears and down yo-"

"Okay! I get it!" Genis exploded. "I can't stop you. But… Why can't I go with you? Why do I have to stay? We've been traveling together wherever we've gone. Why do we have to split up now?"

She stopped herself from responding right away, knowing intuitively that her emotions would have gotten the better of her and her response. Putting down the jar of jelly and mustard, she moved next to Genis and kneeled down in front of him.

"Genis," she said, putting her hands over his on his knees. "This is our home now. We won't be leaving here if we don't have to. And that means we've got to pull our weight to keep the village moving. I will become the teacher and to do that I need the certification from the academy. I don't know why they wanted me to be with the Mayor when he goes to get it. Maybe they want to try to convince me to come back to Palmacosta with them, I don't know."

"Will you?"

She shook her head. "No. Iselia is our home now. And I need you to stay here and continue your education. Phaidra is going to help teach along with one of the priests while I am away. I know you want to come with me, but I'm coming right back. You don't need to worry. I'll be back before you even realize I'm gone."

"But what if you get hurt? You still haven't finished recovering from being sick."

"How about this," she said, "if I promise to take it easy, will you promise to be a good boy and do as you're told?" It took several seconds, but eventually Genis nodded. "Good. Then I suppose it's time to go." She hugged Genis for several seconds before she let go. Genis escorted her to the village entrance where the Mayor and several other people were waiting for them.

"Well, now that we're all here," the Mayor said. If it weren't for all that facial hair, she would have sworn the old man was sneering at her and Genis. "We can finally get a move on. Dirk! Let's go."

"Aye! I'm right behind ya!" At first, she thought the man that trundled by was hunched over as he was walking and almost asked if she could help. But she realized quickly that the hunched over man wasn't actually human. He was a dwarf, and a muscle bound one at that. It was like some creator with a mean streak took a six foot tall body builder and squished him down until he was 4 feet tall, without reducing the muscle mass one bit. "Are ye coming, Lass?"

Raine shook her stupor away and quickly caught up to the two men. Genis and everyone waved as she and the others started away from the village. As they left Iselia behind them, she fell into a quiet march at the back of the group.

It wasn't long before Raine was panting and falling behind. She tried to push herself to keep up, but the harder she pushed, the more she sweated and the hotter she got. It got to the point where the other two were so far ahead of her that she could barely make them out between the panting gasps for air.

Her lungs were on fire when her body forced her to stop. It was like her legs, which felt like rubber, refused to let her torture herself any longer. After ten minutes or so, she was still breathing as hard as she was when she stopped. Luckily, Dirk must have noticed she wasn't behind him anymore, because he reappeared shortly thereafter.

"Lass, what's the matter with ya?" Dirk had his hands on his hips. She feebly waved a hand at him, as if to say to go on without her. But Dirk's response was an indignant snort. "I couldn't live with meself if I left a defenseless woman in such a shape."

"No, please," she said, "I just need to rest a little. Then I'll be able to catch up."

"Lass, don't ya start feeding me your hogwash. You can barely stand there as it is." Dirk started digging through one of his pouches. She watched him curiously as her body finally started to cool off. At length he pulled out small red sphere and a flat yellowish plaque with a round hole in it. "Here it is! I'll lend this to ye for the trip, but ya will have to give it back once we return."

Raine picked up both the plaque and the sphere from Dirk's outstretched hand and inspected them closely. The sphere was some kind of semi-translucent gem, nicked in some places on its surface, and all around rather dull. The small plaque had the engravings of a spell she couldn't recognize on one side and the other was blank.

"Well," Dirk said impatiently, "put the Exsphere on."

"This is an exsphere?" She asked. She looked at the gem again. She knew about Exspheres of course, but she'd never seen one up close before. "Fascinating. How does it work?"

"Ya see that flat thing," said Dirk. "It's a piece of Inhibitor Ore called a Key Crest. If ye were to wear an Exsphere without one, things would get mighty hairy very fast. The charm engraved onto the Inhibitor Ore keeps the Exsphere in check and lets ye use it without any side effects." Dirk chuckled. "Aside from the enhanced strengths and such. Ya don't want to be preventing _those_ side effects. Wearing this should enable ye to keep up with the two of us for the rest of the journey. Heck, it might even speed up ye recovery too. Exspheres can be mighty useful if used correctly."

"This is really interesting," she said. "You must tell me more about these things. But for now, how do I put it on?" She put the Exsphere into the hole of the Key Crest, but before she could bring it to her hand or any other place on her body, it fell out. Dirk laughed as Raine bent to pick the Exsphere off the ground.

"First ya stick the Key Crest onto the back of ye hand," Dirk explained. "Then ye put the Exsphere through the hole. Hold it tight for ten minutes, and then it should stay off its own accord." She tried once more, placing the Key Crest against the back of her hand. As she brought the Exsphere closed to her hand, the Key Crest grew warm, then hot, then as she was pushing the Exsphere through the hole, scalding hot.

She gasped slightly when the sphere seemed to suck up against her skin. And that wasn't the only source of discomfort because the chain under her shirt was sending out tendrils of electrical pulses along her skin, making her hair stand on end. At the end of ten minutes when she let go of the Exsphere, goose bumps had crawled their way across every inch of her body.

She shivered and asked, "Is it supposed to burn that much?" She continued to shiver, odd cold flashes running up and down her body.

"Aye," Dirk said. "Though it varies from person to person. I'd say that because ye are an Elf, it might have been worse. I don't know how your ability to use Mana would effect it. Well, now that we're ready, we should be off. The Mayor continued on without us. He's mighty stingy lately. I wonder what's gotten into him."

"So he isn't normally like that?"

"Oh, don't misunderstand," Dirk said. The two of them began walking again and she already felt much more energy coursing through her than even when they'd set out. "He's always had a stick up his arse. Just seems that must have someone shoved it up farther."

"_Qiq, nbun zyfn lyuff-y strange… I wonde-l qbun nbun qum._" Raine paused mid-laugh suddenly enough that Dirk stopped walking to look at her.

"What's wrong with ye, Lass?" Dirk asked, his concern evident on his face. "Are ye feeling alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," she responded quickly. Had she just understood part of whatever the voice said? "I… uh… I just really feel a whole lot better. It's… really shocking how much energy this little Exsphere gives you."

"Aye, that it does," Dirk said, though he didn't look convinced. After some more placating by Raine, he eventually relented and the two of them continued on their way. The voice was quiet for the rest of the day, for which she was simultaneously grateful and frustrated. Would she understand part of what it said if it spoke again? Had the Exsphere enabled her to understand what the voice was saying as well as enhancing her physically?

All the questions and theories running through her mind threatened to overwhelm her before she was safe enough to pull out her journal and write them all down. Fortunately, when they finally stopped to camp, these questions and ideas were still fresh in her mind. She was able to avert disaster when she found a space to write without anyone seeing what she was writing.

The next few days were spent conversing with Dirk about Exspheres and waiting for the voice to talk again. It finally did just as they crested a sand dune and saw Triet in the distance. The desert was unbearably hot, and though she was fairly certain the Exsphere was enabling her to stand it, it didn't lower the heat or make her feel the slightest bit cooler.

"_Bifs wiq! C ai uqu-y for a few days, and when I come back it lik-y u zlyuecha muohu!_"

"What?"

"I didn't say anything," the Mayor said.

"I think this blasted heat is getting to her," Dirk said. "I may be a dwarf, but even I don't let my forge make the house this hot!"

"It's a good thing we're almost there, then" the Mayor said. "The faster we can get out of the damned place, the better."

"I'm not seeing things," Raine protested. "I'm… wow, it's so hot I can't think straight."

"_Qbun xi sio gy-an, 'what'? It's hotter than hell in he-ly! Qbun bujjyhyx?_"

"The Triet desert should probably be renamed Triple H; 'Hottest Hell Hole' on the face of Sylvarant," Dirk said. "Maybe I should find out what they use as a heat source down here, cause it can't be the sun doing all of this. I could save a lot of money on wood and coal if I knew how it got this hot."

"It's said that Triet is this hot because the Lord of Flames released his rage upon the land," Raine said. "More likely, the source of this heat is Efreet, the Summon Spirit of Fire. In either case, it's unlikely you'll get the heat source for your forge."

Dirk harrumphed his disappointment. "A dwarf can dream, can't he?"

"_Oh, so we're in the desert. Qbs xcxh'n sio mus mi?_"

Raine shook her head, wishing the voice would stop talking. Thinking about it just made her head swim. Exsphere or no, this desert was sapping her dry.

"When we get into the village, head for the Inn," the Mayor said. "We're a day early so we'll need rooms for the night. After that you two are free to do what you want, but don't you dare bother me. If you get yourself into a load of dragon dung, dig yourself out."

"I'll be busy purchasing materials," Dirk said. "I'll be ready to leave by tomorrow."

"Raine, like I said, I don't care what you do tonight. But tomorrow, I want you up bright and early to meet with that representative. He's supposed to get here in the morning, so you'll need to get up at the break of dawn. Understood?"

"Ah… yes. I understand."

"_Why don't you stan-x oj ni bcg? By'm do-st a old blow hard. Show some back bone!_" Raine ignored the voice and nodded toward the Mayor when he looked back at her. "_Don't ignor-y gy!_"

"I'll be ready when they get here," she said. "Then we'll be able to leave and head home."

"Hmph," was the only response she got. This coincided with their entrance into Triet. The inn was quickly found and almost as soon as they paid for their rooms, the Mayor had disappeared into his. Dirk, after depositing what he wanted in his room, left to do business. This left Raine to do as she pleased for the rest of the afternoon. The first thing she did, of course, was hideaway in her room so she could pull out her journal and work on it in private.

The room was for a single person, with a solitary bed pushed up against a mud brick wall. But since the whole building was made from dried mud brick, this wasn't out of the ordinary. A candle sat on the only table in the room next to a shuttered window, rounding out the furniture in the room. There was a tub in the corner for her to bath in. But she had to purchase water from the Inn to do so and they all but enslaved you to get it.

"Okay," she said, once she was seated at the table with her journal out in front of her. "Now, you were saying."

"_Oh? C nbioabn sio qy-re ignoring me. It's not li-ey sio wuh ohxylmnuh-d me anyway._"

"I can understand partially," she said, writing down some of the ideas that popped into her head about the relationship between the Exsphere and the silver chain. "But it's going in and out. It's like the echo chamber said to be in the basement of the Tower of Mana, where you can say something on one side and the sound is carried to the other side by the curvature of the room. However, if you don't speak loud enough or enunciate clearly enough, the words sound garbled or mumbled."

"_Wait… you can under-mnuhx gy? Qbs xcxh'n sio mu-y so before?_"

"It's bad enough that I talk to a voice in my head at all. Do you know what they do to crazy people, let alone people like me? No, I don't think you do. Nor do I think you know how hard it is to survive without someplace to call home. I don't stand up to the Mayor because I don't want anything to jeopardize our new home in Iselia. I'm going do what I have to in order to stay. If that means kissing the Mayor's feet, then I suppose I'll just have to do it."

Somehow, in her tirade, she'd stood and placed her hands on her hips. Now she was standing over her table glaring down at her journal as if she were admonishing it the same way she'd admonished Genis or any one of the children she'd been teaching for the last month. She was even waving her finger at it until she realized how foolish she was acting. After that she settled for crossing her arms and glaring at the wall while she tried to imagine talking to the being of light as if he were in the room.

"Besides, you're just a voice in my head. The purest proof I can think of that I've gone insane. You're more than likely a figment of my imagination anyway, albeit one I can't make go away. Where do you get the right to tell me what to do and then cop an attitude with me afterwards? You should be grateful I even put up with you."

"_C wuh ny-ll you've been wanting to have thi-m wihpylmuncih zil u qbc-le…_" The voice trailed off. For a second, she thought he was going to remain silent, but then he continued with what she felt was a confrontational tone tempered by an undercurrent of surety. "_First off, no, I'm not just some voi-wy ch siol byux. C'g zlig u j-lace called Earth. How I got here is an-sihy'm aoymm. Mywihx, siol h-ot insane. Third, I don't fault you for doing wha-n sio bupy ni, C domn nbche sio mbiofx mnuhx oj z-or yourself. He should respect you mo-ly._"

She opened her mouth to respond when there was a knock at her door. Quickly hiding her journal, she called for the person to enter. It was the Mayor and he had a piece of paper in his hands.

"Were you talking to someone just now?"

"No, no one," she said. Lying, she realized with much chagrin, was becoming like second nature. "I was just… thinking out loud. What could they possibly want me to come down here for?"

"Hmph, I thought you might have had some clue. Though I suppose it would be in their uptight, city folk way to keep even one of their own in the dark."

She arched an eyebrow as the Mayor scowled at the floor. His statement might explain why he had thus far treated her with such indifference. But she couldn't fathom what could have given him the idea that she was 'one of them city folk'.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked.

"Oh, right. We used up most of our provisions on the way down. It would save time if you could handle buying the food while I bought the hardware."

She tilted her head as she considered the Mayor standing in front of her. He was still glaring at the floor, but he had made the request with the softest voice she'd ever heard him use. She thought it unlikely that a man such as he would make such a request unless he could find no other way to accomplish what he wanted. But in the end, she felt asking why would just make him irate at her when he needn't be.

"Sure, I can do that," she said. "What do we need?" No reason she needed to be difficult. Being part of the village meant she had to do her part, after all.

"Here," the Mayor thrust the piece of paper he was holding out toward her. She took the paper and scanned over the ingredients and other food that he wanted her to get. "I don't expect us to have time to buy anything tomorrow. We'll be leaving as soon as the meeting's over. So you should get them tonight."

The Mayor turned and left without waiting for a reply. She looked at the empty spot and then back down at the list. It looked like he wanted her to buy more than just provisions to get them back to Iselia. This was a list of things someone would need for a feast with room to spare.

"_I still say you shou-_"

"Not another word," she growled. Thankfully, the voice remained silent. "I realize he's using me, but like I said, if this is what I have to do to keep me and Genis in Iselia, then that's what I'll do. Now, we shoul-ugh- _I _will be off to buy the food the Mayor has asked me to buy."

After making sure her journal was secure in her bag, she turned to leave. Just as she was passing through the door frame, the chain sparked and her legs went slightly numb, stopping her forward movement. She tried to move again, but found it impossible.

"Would you let me walk, please?" she rasped quietly. She took a quick look around the hallway to make sure no one was nearby to hear her. "I want to get this done and get back here so I can get to sleep early."

"_Nuey siol vua. Qy xih'n qu-nt anyone looking through it while we're out, no-q xi qy?_"

"What?"

"_Sio-r bag. Take it._"

"No, it should be safe here. Now can we go?" She tried to move again. But her legs remained steadfastly numb and non responsive. She bent over and tried to lift it but then her arms went numb and she couldn't move them either. "Fine! I'll take the bag!" She turned and stomped back into the room, surprised at how easily she could move her legs when she complied. "But don't ever say I don't listen to you again. And never do that again, do you understand?"

The voice didn't respond, but she didn't expect him to. When she got outside, it surprised her to learn how long she'd spent in her room. Where the sun was near its apex of late morning when they'd arrived, it was now much closer to the western horizon. The sun was still potent enough to make her feel hotter than she remembered it being when she came here on the expedition.

After taking a moment to wipe the quickly forming sweat from her face, she set off into the town. She made mental notes on what was where as she worked her way through the desert town. After cutting down more than a couple alley ways and down several streets, she finally found the source of the town's water. And right next to the large, palm tree lined oasis, was the food bazaar.

"Ah, finally," Raine said, a relieved grin appearing on her lips. Though the sun was half way below the horizon, the bazaar was full of life. Vendors, some haggling fiercely over prices with customers, had lanterns attached to their stalls. Using the light provided, she made her way through, buying what was on the list as she came across it.

By the time she was finished, the bazaar was closing, the sun had gone completely, and the path back to the Inn was suddenly much more sinister. Long shadows bathed the alleys and streets she'd traversed hours before. It was so dark it seemed like the small lantern she bought at the bazaar wasn't actually lit.

She hoped to be back before now, but shopping had taken longer than she'd anticipated. There was a lot of food on the list. She'd be lucky to get any sleep at all at this rate.

As she rounded the corner on the second to last alley and exited into the street, she came upon a group of men idly standing. They were dressed in rags, mostly, though some had day worker uniforms on. Some leaned against the walls while others were sprawled out on the ground. They all looked at her simultaneously when she exited from the alley.

"Hey, honey…"

With her head down, she barely broke stride as she walked straight past the bunch. She'd hoped that she was just being paranoid. The hairs on the back of the neck and the hand that grabbed her arm told her otherwise.

"Hang on a minute, babe. We just want to chat." She tugged against the arm before the man could speak and felt her arm slip free.

She didn't get far before two hands grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around. The satchels of food slipped from her tightly clutched fingers and the contents scattered at the feet of the man who now held her. She shrank into herself as she looked up at the overbearing man dressed in a day worker's uniform.

"Now see what you did?" the man asked. "You should have stopped when we asked you to. Now you went and got my feet dirty." Several of the man's compatriots laughed while others just chuckled darkly. Raine was too frightened to actually look away from the man in front of her. "Why don't you get down there and clean it up?"

"Yeah!" shouted someone behind the wall of flesh and bone in front of her. "Don't you know it's rude to make a mess on someone's feet?"

"_Tell him to mI zowe bcgmyfz!_"

"I-I'm sorry," Raine sputtered, but the man shook her violently, silencing her.

"Sorry?" The man shouted. His lips curled as a fire grew in his eyes. "Sorry?! Do you know how much these sandals cost me, lady? Sorry is the best you can come up with? Well, I'm _sorry_, but that just won't do. That won't do at all." Raine cringed when she saw the anger twist into a lecherous grin. He was looking at her like an animal looked at a piece of raw meat. "I think I know how to make us even."

"_Wigy ih, Luchy! Zc-ght back! Kick his ass!_"

The idea seemed so ludicrous to her terror riddled mind, filled with the unsavory images of what these men were going to do to her, that her response was almost instinctual. Fight? Fight back against people so clearly more powerful than her? Clearly her answer was, "No!"

She hadn't meant to shout it. Nor to push as violently as she had against the man. But yell and push she did. The man was sent to the ground and tumbled for a couple feet. Silence fell over the street as the other men's astonishment turned to glares. Her own astonishment kept her from moving, looking down at her hands as if she couldn't believe what they'd done.

Her mind snapped back to the present when the man who she'd sent to the ground was back up and quickly advancing on her. Behind him, all the other men were pulling out knives or weapons of one sort or another. She quickly back away, leaving the street and entering another alley.

Her retreat ended when it turned out the back alley was a dead end. The irony of that wasn't lost on her as the men advanced on her. She looked for another way out that she might use to escape, but the only things in this alley were several barrels of lantern oil, a cart, and a stack of unused bricks.

"You're going to pay for what you did, woman," the leader said. He reached behind his back and grabbed for something. When she heard the scraping of metal she didn't need to see the full blade to know he was unsheathing a sword. "You've got nowhere else to run. Now, it's time to pay up."

"_Qyff, wluj… nbcm xi-esn't look good._"

"No, really?" She pressed her back up against the wall as flat as it would go as the leader of the gang moved in. "Any bright ideas on how to get out of this?"

"_Magic?_"

Laughter rose up from the gang behind their boss. "Boss, this lady's off her rocker," one of the men said. "She's so scared she's talking nonsense."

"I don't know any spells," she said, ignoring them. Worrying about these miscreants finding out about the voice was rather pointless when they clearly wanted to do worse things to her. "And I can't fight. I don't even have a weapon."

"Looks like it's the end of the line for you, woman," the boss said. He reached out and grabbed Raine around the neck. She gasped for air as he squeezed his hand tighter and lifted her against the wall. She could feel the rough surface of the wall digging into her back as she rose up. "First, you're going to service me. Then you're going to service my me-"

"_Enough of thi-m! Zufwih Ecwe!_"

Raine was lifted up by the rather tall man until she was at the exact height where her knee had perfect access to his face. Her kneecap smashed into his nose, breaking the bridge and cartilage inside in several places. Blood spurted violently from his face across Raine's clothes, rocketing his head backwards.

The man immediately dropped Raine to the ground so he could instinctively grab what remained of his face. He'd also dropped his sword, the hilt landing directly next to where Raine's head landed. Before she knew what was happening, her hand had gone numb and reached out to grab the hilt of the sword.

She suddenly found herself back on her feet, swinging the sword in front of her diagonally. Vibrations ran along her arm as the edged weapon ran into the resistance provided by the torso of the bandit boss. More blood rained down on her as the new wound was opened up.

The look of disbelief was frozen on the large man's face as he sank to his knees and the last of his blood drained out of him and onto the ground. The group of men standing behind their boss knew something was going on. From the large amounts of red and the sounds of steel scraping on stone, they knew that someone was going to die.

What they didn't know was that it was Raine doing the killing. They all found this out when their bosses dead body slammed into the ground and a blood covered Raine was revealed. At least one of them was brave and cognizant enough to realize what was going on and sounded a charge order. All the men stood for a few seconds before their group mentality decided that the order was in fact a good idea.

They were careless though. Raine kicked the nearby cart and sent it careening into the barrels of oil. They were easily knocked over, spilling their contents and tripping up the group of bandits. While the men were laid out in the slick goo, Raine jumped up onto the stack of bricks and prepared to jump over the lot of them. Just as she was about to get a running start, one of the men managed to grab her ankle.

She fell sideways, dropping the sword she'd been holding along the way. The steel held enough weight and force when it fell that it split several of the bricks lying in the pile. Whether the bricks were that badly made, or the steel was that strong, didn't really matter in the end. The steel on stone created sparks, one of which managed to make it to the lantern oil...

* * *

Teresa, a young girl with her brown locks wrapped up in her favorite white head scarf, was making her way home from her grandmother's house near the entrance of Triet when she saw the blaze erupt in the alleyway. She immediately ran over to see what was going on. Several other people stuck their head out of their doors or leaned out their windows as the noise from the flames grew.

The flames were quickly climbing the walls of the houses next to the alley in which the fire had started. Teresa held her hand up in front of her face as she approached the roaring flames. It looked like there were people in the fire, but she couldn't be sure. That was until a person jumped over the flames from the other side.

Teresa was knocked over by the woman that had leaped from the fires. She tried to wake the woman up, but nothing she could do would wake her. After a short while, officials showed up and started directing residents to evacuate and where to go. They weren't going to put the fire out, due to how precious water was, so the buildings were to be sacrificed.

Teresa managed to pull herself out from underneath the silver haired lady and stared up at the flames and the people running about in awe. Then, inspiration from somewhere spurred the girl to stand up. She did her best to lift the woman onto a cart and then wheeled off into the night, the fire roaring behind her.

* * *

Preview

Part Three: Lessons

Chapter Five: Coming To Terms With Reality

Summary: Clues are revealed about the origin of the voice, though no hard facts are established outside of the proper name for the chain. Raine also must come to terms with the things she did in the alley, slaying a man with his own sword, burning dozens others alive. These are things no child is prepared to deal with, but forge ahead, she must.


	5. Chapter 5

Quetzalcoatl's Chain

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales.

* * *

Arc One: Discovery

Part Three: Lessons

Chapter Five: Coming to Terms with Reality, or, Reality Bites

* * *

"Where did that damnable woman go? And where is that no good city slicker?! I thought city folk were supposed to be on time!"

The Mayor of Iselia lividly retraced his tracks back and forth near the entrance to Triet. People who caught sight of him immediately looked away or ignored him. The children that stopped to stare were admonished by their elders and dragged away.

"Ya should stop making tracks in the sand or ye'll wear your shoes out." The Mayor stopped pacing and fixed a stern glare upon Dirk. "And if ya give me any of ye lip, ya can forget about me fixin 'em."

The Mayor raises his pointer finger to the sky, his mouth halfway open. Quickly, he clamped his lips together. He picked up pacing again, this time at a much faster pace.

The two didn't need to wait much longer. A caravan of dragon drawn covered wagons entered the town. The Mayor and Dirk watched as a swarm of activity erupted around the wagons. Young men and a couple women came out of the wood work of the wagons, almost all of them wearing the Palmacosta Academy uniform.

The Mayor turned away with a scowl when one of the uniformed men left the swarm of activity and walked towards them. The look on the man's face was unsure as he looked the two of them over. The Mayor turned back around and scowled, which caused the intellectual to cringe slightly.

"Would either of you be the Mayor of Iselia?" the man asked.

"Are you Rafleur?" the Mayor asked. "You had us waiting here half the day? I thought you city folk were all about being on time and not one second late? Where's your city-folk honor, boy?"

"I'm terribly sorry for the delay," Professor Rafleur said. "The caravan ran into som- No, no matter. We're here now and that's all that matters. I thank you for waiting." The Professor reached into his bag and extracted a couple tied up scrolls. Looking over the melted wax seals, he frowned. "I suppose hoping wax would keep in a desert is too much to hope for. In either case, here, these are Raine Sage's papers of certification. She is, quite frankly, overqualified for teaching in your little village."

"Oh really?" the Mayor scoffed. He snapped the scrolls from Professor Refleur's hands, balled them up without looking at them, and stuffed them into his bag. "Well, for all I care, you can keep her if this is her idea of being on time. Come on Dirk, let's get our stuff and get the hell out of this place. The stench of city folk is getting to be too much for me."

Dirk shook his head and followed the Mayor back toward the Inn. Professor Rafleur called out to them, asking a question. The Mayor stopped and turned around while Dirk continued on.

"What was that?" the Mayor asked.

"I asked, where is Ms. Sage?" the Professor repeated, "I asked that she be here when we met, but I haven't seen her."

"That blasted woman never came back last night," the Mayor growled. "I told her specifically to be back and up before dawn to meet with you, _not_ that it would have mattered. Wherever she is, if she's not back by the time we leave, you can keep her."

* * *

Raine awoke to darkness. It was dark and thick like a cloak made from tar. The air was thick and hot with smoke, but not so much that she couldn't breathe. Underneath the smoke was the faint scent of old, stale air.

"_Oh you're awa-ey! Uqymigy! C aoymm nbun gyuhm nbun qy'ly h-ot dead._"

"What… happened," she said as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Though she couldn't see, she could clearly feel the empty space around her as she stretched her aching arm muscles over her head. As she did so, she discovered that it wasn't just muscles in her arms, but all of them that hurt.

She'd heard people new to certain exertions, new recruits to the Palmacosta Militia for example, complaining about hurting in places they didn't know they had. Whenever she'd heard that back then, she'd rolled her eyes, not knowing how they could believably think they had places they never used within their bodies. Now, she'd never doubt them again.

"_Well, first you got in-ni u zcabn qcnb u vohwb iz vuhxcnm. Nbyh, migybiq, C ni-ok over and kicked the guy in the face. Then there wa-m u zcabn, uhx vfiix, uhx zcly, uh-d you killed that guy with his own sword. After that, you kind of passed out._"

"I did what?!" She pressed a hand to her forehead and then to her stomach as a wave of nausea and bile rose up her esophagus. "I killed someone? I don't remember doing that! I've never killed anyone in my life. How… how can you be sure it was me?"

"_I don't remember swinging that sword, but I remember seeing it slice clean through his chest. It was… terrifying._"

"I'm telling you it couldn't have been me," Raine said, her voice rising above the whisper she'd been speaking in. She desperately wanted to believe that it couldn't have been her. But every time she tried to say that to herself, she remembered her own bloody version of crimson liquid spraying out of the chest of a large human shaped object. "I just couldn't…" She realized she was pushing really hard against her forehead when she fell back over. Releasing a whimpering groan, she let go of her forehead and pushed herself back up.

"_Look, for sure, one of us is responsible. Denying it happened won't help nor make you or me feel any less guilty, even if the leader was a bastard rapist. I don't know if you noticed, but more than likely you would have been killed after being… yeah. I'm going to say it was self defense. You can do that here, right?_"

Raine nodded, more to assure herself than to answer the voice's question. "But still," she said, bowing her head to look at where she had her hands in her lap. She couldn't see them with her eyes, but she could still imagine the blood on them. It felt as if the life fluid was still dripping between her fingers, and it made her shudder.

"Oh, you're awake?" A door opened in the darkness, revealing a man silhouetted by a light from behind. His voice was gravely, but soft. Raine squinted from the change of light as the man entered the room. He wasn't tall by any means, in face he was hunched over as he walked, but his stride was strong and fluid. "Who on earth were you talking to?"

With the new light source, Raine could see she was in a small room. She'd been asleep on a pile of cloth placed on the stone floor. It was a simple room, from what she could tell, and possibly was intended to be a supply closet.

Her clothes, she noted, were different from the ones she last remembered. Her favorite brown coat was replaced by a more burnt orange one. The pants she knew that she was last time she looked were green, not black. And her she knew her boots were newer because the insides didn't feel worn in the same places she'd grown accustomed to placing her toes.

"I'm deeply sorry for having to replace your wardrobe," the man said. Now that she could see a bit better, she saw he was an older man, with silver hair and a graying beard. His eyes still held the fire of a man a couple decades younger, however, leading Raine to conclude that he was quite fit despite his hunched over posture. "The clothes you had on before," the man continued, "were smoldering and needed to be removed. My daughter took care of fitting you with new clothes. I hope they're to your liking."

"I'm sorry," Raine said, "but who are you? And where am I? The last thing I remember was leaving to go back to the Inn with the-" Raine held a hand up to her head as the memory of bloody spraying out of the meaty chest implanted itself firmly within her mind's eye. "Ugh…"

"I believe you may have forgotten what happened. That's understandable, considering what you went through. You nearly lost your life to the flames," the old man said. "But enough of depressing things. Come, you must be hungry. My daughter has prepared a meal and you're more than welcome to join us."

"I-" Raine was cut off by rumbling and grumbling coming from her midsection. She placed a hand over her stomach and grimaced. "I believe that I'll take you up on that offer."

"Oh good," the old man said. "By the way, what's your name?"

"My name is Raine Sage." After a moment's hesitation, she added, "I'm an elf. I recently moved to Iselia where I hope to become the teacher for the town."

"Oh? I've never met anyone with a name that long," the old man chortled. Raine smiled faintly, her cheeks flushed slightly from embarrassment. "Well then, _Luchy Muay_, you may call me Old Man, if you wish. Those who know me better, call me _Cho_."

Raine frowned but remained silent as the old man led her from the small room into a hallway that led past several closed doors and into an open dining area. At the table were seated two small girls, a woman, and an older woman who looked about ready to fall asleep. The girls were watching her warily, though one had the beginnings of a smile tugging at the edge of her lips. The woman watched her carefully as old man Cho pulled out a chair for Raine to sit in.

"Everyone, this is _Luchy Muay_," Cho announced as he took his own seat. "She's going to eat with us tonight." The meal started shortly after that when Cho started handing out bowls with stew that he ladled into them. The aroma coming off of the brown liquid was similar to something Genis made a while ago, so she was sure she'd like it. But the food wasn't what was bothering her.

Here she was, a stranger being invited into a stranger's home. She didn't know exactly why she was here or how she got here. Nor was she so sure why these people, who were clearly not that well off, were being so generous to her. It also appeared that Cho knew something about what had happened to her, so he must have known she killed several people. Yet he was still housing her here, in his home, shielded from the eyes of the law. And add to that the fact that Cho called her the same thing as the Voice did when he was speaking gibberish.

"_Good question. Why is he getting your name wrong?_"

Raine ignored the voice and everyone else as she looked at the bowl that was put in front of her. Something was clearly not right here. Perhaps, if she played along and kept her head down, she could get out of here and make her way back to the Inn. Besides, if she was a wanted criminal, then she was putting this family in danger. She paused, her spoon halfway to her mouth, as she imagined her attempt to explain where she'd been and why she'd been missing for… How long had she been missing for anyway?

"_Luchy_," Cho said, "I'm sure you have many questions. How you got here, where here is, etc. When we're done eating, I'd like to sit down and explain everything, if you'll let me."

"Actually," Raine said, "I need to get back to the Inn. I was staying with a couple others and they're probably worried about me. Not that I'm ungrateful for our hospitality, Mr. Cho, but I really shouldn't impose on you any more than I already have."

The little girl next to Raine giggled. She turned her head in time to see the girl's mother scolding her. Raine looked back at Cho, who was smiling, with his eyes as much as with his lips.

"Did I say something wrong?" Raine asked.

"Quite the contrary," the old woman sitting across the table from her said. The ancient wrinkly face lifted from a restful repose so that the old woman could look at her. "You simply called him by the ancient version of his name."

Raine frowned. She slowly put her spoon down and pushed back from the table. As she stood, Cho started laughing in great guffaws. Before the part of her that was panicking could look for a way out of the house, the other part of her that was too inquisitive for her own good took over. "Ancient name?" she asked.

"Yes," Cho said. "You see, _Luchy Muay_, is your name, Raine Sage, in the ancient tongue. And the only way you'd be able to even hear me speak the ancient tongue is if you have one of Quetzalcoatl's Relics."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Really father," the girl's mother said. "Must you and mother play your games here, in my home? It's bad enough that you hide out here like cockroach fugitives."

"But mom," the girl who was sitting next to Raine said, "it's part of our heritage. You know that."

"What I know," the girl's mother said, "is that the Goddess Martel will strike us all down if she catches us even thinking what your grandparents are thinking. Come on now, its bed time. Off with you." The woman cast a sever look over her shoulder at the two older people as she quickly ushered the two children from the room.

"I must apologize for my daughter's behavior," the old woman said. "She has suffered because we keep the old ways."

"I think the only reason the old ways have held on for so long was because of how entrenched it was in our people's very way of life," Cho said. "But our people aren't the same as they used to be even a hundred years ago. It's all thanks to those damned Desians and the Martel priests coming into to help ease the people's pain. But enough of depressing things. Let's talk about you, _Luchy_."

"You say that is how my name is pronounced in the ancient tongue?" Raine asked. "Is there a dictionary or something that I can use to translate the Ancient Language of your… what civilization is it from?"

"We are from the ancient Krona people who inhabited this fire weary land," the old woman said. "Our people once occupied the ancient city that was consumed by the Fire Lord. Some wonder why our ancestors would have settled in such an inhospitable place. However, there is a myth that says this desert used to be much more fertile, perhaps a verdant forest even.

"That was before the time of Mana and Elves, before all these wars and Cruxis and the Desians. The Krona worshiped many gods and goddesses. But one god in particular, the creator god Quetzalcoatl, gifted our people with a magical metal that allowed mere mortals to commune with the gods whenever they wished."

"Sometimes the gods spoke through the people holding their magic metal," Cho said. "Other times, the people fell left their bodies and went to the god's homes in the sky."

"_This is starting to sound familiar…_"

"Di d you say people left their bodies and were sometimes possessed by these gods?" Raine asked. She realized she must have asked to eagerly because the two older people looked at each other and then back at her. Words unspoken were heavy in the air as she waited for her answer, knowing that she probably gave away too much information by how eager she was to learn. In the year or so since she found this damned chain, this was the first information she'd gotten. Trouble or not, she wasn't going to let this opportunity get away.

"Are you hearing the voice of the gods, _Luchy_?" Cho asked. He tilted his head slightly to the side.

"_Oh, so he thinks I'm a god, eh? Awesome! Tell him yes!_"

Raine fought off a scowl as she shook her head. "No, I don't have anyone in my head, nor have I been summoned out of my body either. I was just curious, that's all. I'm aiming to be a teacher. A healthy dose of curiosity is a given in my profession. Why did you bring up this Quetzalcoatl anyway? And what did you mean about a relic?"

Cho held up his hand. Sitting in his palm, with a piece of twine threaded through it, was a metal bead. For a fraction of a second, Raine felt the chain under her shirt make her skin tingle and the hairs around it stand on end.

"When we were tending to your wounds, we found a silver chain of Krona design," the old woman said. "When we tried to take it off, the chain somehow found its way back around your neck." Raine averted her eyes and remained silent. Even these people, who apparently knew what this chain was, couldn't get it off her. There truly was no way of getting rid of it, or the voice.

"We had to test you to be sure it was the real deal though," Cho added. "There are other ways of achieving the same thing as keeping a personal item on you through Mana based magic. But only a Quetzalcoatl Relic enables the bearer to understand the ancient tongue, the language of the gods."

"So," Raine said, reaching into her shirt and pulling out the silver chain. "This is a relic of an ancient civilization… Incredible!"

"_Now Raine… don't go getting any ideas._"

"But this is an incredible find. An ancient civilizations magical device to talk to their gods, without using Mana. It's fantastic. I don't know why I never thought of coming back here to ask about this in the first place. I guess I just-"

Raine caught herself midway through bringing the chain closer to her face. She quickly let go and looked back at the two elders in front of her. With a quiet cough, she pushed the chain back into her shirt. She felt safer having it there.

"Are you sure you don't hear any voices?" Cho asked. "Or are you always that excitable?"

"I…" The words she was looking for slipped from her mind and she was left speechless. After several moments of silence, which grew increasingly more uncomfortable, Raine decided to change the topic. "If you don't mind me asking, but could you tell me how I ended up here? The last thing I remember was passing out in an alley with a bunch of bandits."

"My granddaughter found you," Cho said. "Or as she puts it, you found her. She brought you back here in a cart when the alley you jumped out of caught fire. It was a big happening since they had to let the whole house burn down. Last I looked, there were only embers left."

Raine frowned and turned away. So not only had she murdered a man, but she'd burnt a house to the ground. How much worse could it get? Whirling around, she quickly asked, "Nobody died in the fire, did they?"

"I recall there was a family of four living there," the old woman said. "The Stine family. They're, thankfully, on a pilgrimage right now. The only thing they lost was whatever belongings they didn't take with them."

A great weight lifted off of Raine's shoulders, or at least, it felt that way. Her legs wobbled as she grabbed the chair and fell back into it. "I don't think I could have handled being responsible for killing more people."

"What are you talking about?" Cho asked. "There was a fire, yes. But no one died. Who could you have killed?"

"_Maybe assuming he knew about that wasn't a good idea. I guess all he really knows is that we jumped out of a fire and nearly died in it._"

"Before the fire," Raine said. She took a moment to gather the courage to speak past the image once more playing out in front of her. "There was-"

"_Hang on!_" Raine groaned and grabbed her head. A sharp pain accompanied the high volume of the voice. It felt like someone drove a ten inch nail into the soft flesh between her eye and nose. "_Do we really need to burden these people with the knowledge that people actually died in that fire? If we're the only ones that know about them, then… then maybe, if we don't say anything, no one will ever know._"

"Raine?" Cho said, standing up. Concern was evident in the way he was looking at her. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything on it if it bothers you that much."

"No," Raine said. "I have to say it. Keeping it to myself won't absolve my consciences. It would only make things worse."

"Please go on, dear," the old woman said.

"Before the fire, there was this man…"

* * *

"Rafleur, I presume." The Professor looked up from the desk he was working at in the lobby of the Inn, his nose and mouth twisted. Before him stood the embodiment of swine in human form. With a stench that got worse the closer the obese man got, the Professor could do little to evade or get away. In the end, he simply nodded while focusing on trying to keep what meager dinner he'd eaten from coming back out. "My men and I finished searching the remains of the building. It was our guys that were killed in there when the fire started."

Rafleur nodded, choking on some spit that seeped past his hold on his breath. After a coughing fit that lasted almost a minute, and once he'd gotten control of his faculties again, the Professor asked, "Does anyone else know?"

"No," the fat man said. "The local law enforcers are under our thumb anyway. They've been told to keep their noses out of our business, or they'll face the consequences of the last group that enforced the laws around here."

"Good. Where is the errant half-elf now?"

"She's gone to ground, but no matter," the fat man chuckled. "We're on a lead right now that will take us to the supposed temple of these heretics. We'll get them when they come to defend their precious treasure."

"And capture The Master along with the errant Miss Sage." Rafleur brought his hand to his chin and rubbed the stubble there. A grin slowly spread across his face. "The Trust places a lot of faith in you Zharley. They only sent me here to collect what you've found so far. I'll not be getting in your way, same as last time."

"I'll do what I need to do," the fat man, Zharley, said. "Anything to get out of this hell hole and back to Tethe'alla. Be seeing ya."

* * *

Preview

Part Three: Lessons

Chapter Six: The Temple Test

Summary: Chased by a shadowy group of people, Raine is led into the depths of an ancient temple where a treasure awaits. However, the ancient Krona are not likely to give up their secrets so easily. The trying times of Raine Sage are just beginning.


	6. Chapter 6

Quetzalcoatl's Chain

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales.

* * *

Arc One: Discovery

Part Three: Lessons

Chapter Six: The Temple Test

* * *

When it happened, she wasn't sure what she saw. She was still sitting in the chair with Cho and his wife in front of her. Then a wave of energy, or something like a translucent wall of air, washed over her. It took her a moment to realize that it had entered through the wall and gone straight through to the other side of the house, passing over and through everything, before passing straight out the other side of the home.

Then there were three raps at the door, quickly followed by four more. Raine frowned and watched curiously as the old couple, who'd stiffened when the waved passed through, looked at each other for a few moments. A look of understanding passed between them before Cho stood and answered the door. After a few moments of talking in hushed voices with whoever was outside, Cho walked out the door. Raine glanced at the brooding old woman before focusing her attention back on the door.

Cho left the door open for several minutes before he walked back in, caked with dust and sand, with the remnants of cuts along his arms and legs. Blood caked his abdomen and there was a gaping opening in his shirt, but no wound underneath. Raine stood the moment she took all of this in and moved to see if he needed help.

"No, no, _Luchy_, I've no need of help," the old man said before she could even ask or offer any assistance. "We need to move, though, now."

"What happened to you?" she asked.

"There's not enough time to explain and you'll find out soon enough," he said before he turned to his wife. "Please, get the children, the Trust is near. We'll need to move quickly to get away from them in time."

The old woman, belying her age, practically leaped from her chair and down the hallway in the same direction of the young woman and her two children. Raine watched all of this, flabbergasted and bereft of all thoughts. Everything was moving too fast and she didn't know the first thing about what had just happened, leaving her with no hope of catching up.

"_Luchy_, please," Cho went to the side of the room and picked up a dirty, soot smudged bag and threw it at her. She caught it easily enough and discovered to her chagrin that this ratty sack was actually hers. "I'll meet you outside by the alley. Go and wait for me there while I change into something more suitable."

"But, what about-"

"Go," Cho said as he pushed her out of the door. "We really don't have any time to dally here."

As soon as she cleared the threshold, the wooden door closed tight behind her. Blinking several times, it took her several moments to realize she was still staring at the closed door. She shook her head as she turned and started toward the nearby alley, clearly visible from the front of the house across the road.

"_What in the world just happened? What could have messed him up so much in such a short time? I didn't hear anything outside, did you?_"

"No," Raine said. She shook her head, then stopped midway through the gesture. The voice couldn't see her shaking her head. She brushed the personal embarrassment aside and said, "I am as in the dark as you are."

"_Oh good… Wait… how did he get out here so fast?_"

Raine looked ahead of her into the alley and saw old man Cho waiting for her. He had indeed changed, and wasn't dirty anymore either. Curiosity ever her strongest trait, she could do nothing to stop the question, "How did you get out her so fast?" from leaving her lips. Cho smiled slightly and motioned for her to come closer.

"I'll tell you in good time, _Luchy_," Cho said. When she was close enough, Cho pointed toward a wall. She turned and gazed upon the lackluster sandstone that made up all the buildings in Triet. "Notice anything different about this wall? It's not actually made from sandstone."

"What?" Cho reached out and stuck his hand through the wall. Raine's eyes widened and she reached out to do the same. "How… is this possible? Is it some sort of spell or Magitechnology?"

"Nothing so damnable," Cho said, a twist of his mouth revealing his distaste at the mention of the magical machinery. "It's an illusion cast by the desert itself. The Krona were using magic based off of a different kind of energy than Mana before the Great Tree germinated. As such, they were doing many of the things Mana spells did before Mana became available."

"Fascinating."

Just then several men arrived in front of Cho's house. The moment Cho saw them, he grabbed Raine by the arm and dragged her with him as he launched into and through the invisible doorway. Behind her, she heard footsteps and shouts as more men showed up.

"Who were they?"

"They're the Trust," Cho said. "They're a group of bad people using the Krona's gifts for evil purposes. I've never been strong enough to fight them on my own and no one believes me when I try and tell them, or _they_ kill them. All I been able to do is hide my family and run when they catch up."

Raine shook her arm free of Cho's hold as the tunnel descending into the depths of the earth became lit from below with an angry red glow. After that, she followed as Cho led the way, descending even deeper into what should have been a colder cavern. The heat, though, grew intensely.

"What could be so important to them that they'd kill for?" She felt her feet slowing down, even as she tried to keep up. A burning arose in her legs and at the end of a tunnel that exited into another junction, she stumbled and fell to the ground. Cho stopped and returned to her side, helping her back to her feet.

"The bead I showed you earlier," he said. Instead of pushing her on, he allowed her to lean against the wall and catch her breath. "Quetzalcoatl's Bead. That's what they want. And if they catch you, they'll get Quetzalcoatl's Chain too. They'd probably kill you to keep you quiet."

"_You know… The Exsphere is supposed to enhance your physical abilities. Why exactly are you out of breath?_" Raine ignored the voice and nodded at Cho. He turned and started down the tunnel, albeit slower than before. A lot of the panic had left him as well, she noticed.

"So… how long have they been chasing you?"

"Oh… something going on sixty nine years," Cho said, turning a corner suddenly and walking through another false wall. Raine swallowed her fears and followed after him. "It'll be seventy when my birthday rolls around next month." Cho looked over his shoulder and flashed a grin at her. She thought on what he'd said for a moment, letting their travel go in silence. He looked to be about that old.

"_So this guy's been chased with his family all over by some shadowy organization called The Trust for his whole life. That's rough._"

"I can imagine it a little," Raine said quietly. The two of them came to a junction and Cho stopped to look down three different exit paths. While she waited for Cho to make up his mind, she whispered, "being on the move all the time since before I can remember. I can't imagine doing it for over sixty nine years though."

"What was that?" Cho asked, turning around.

Raine kept her face neutral and said, "I asked what it was we're down here for. Shouldn't you be helping your family escape right now? And what is this place anyway?"

"Ah, yes." Cho grinned at her and pointed toward the left path. "This is the way. The other two are booby trapped dead-ends." Raine arched an eyebrow as she followed Cho down the path he designated as safe. "My family are being taken care of. And these paths are booby trapped because this is a temple built by my great great grandfather's generation to house one of the Krona's treasures. I was told it was also a kind of training grounds back in the day. I'm not sure what they trained for though. The Trust has been searching for that treasure for a while now."

Before Raine could ask any more questions, Cho suddenly stopped and held his hand out behind him. He looked back at her and held a finger up to his lips. She looked past Cho and noticed several shadows playing on the wall ahead. Human shaped shadows.

Cho crept forward and she followed, making sure to step as quietly as she could. As they got closer, the shadows projected onto the curved wall of the tunnel moved and voices became apparent. One of those voices sounded strangely familiar to her.

"-n't give up now. That treasure is down here somewhere and we're going to find it. While Zharley and his men round up Master Inu and his family, we have free reign down here, so we don't have to worry about anyone interrupting our work."

Then another, deeper voice, said, "You there, start digging."

"Here?" replied a smaller, more wiry voice. "But this is a priceless mural of the ancient Triet people. I can't dest-urgh-okay, okay! I'll do it!" From the guttural sound interrupting the man's defense of the mural, Raine guessed that the man speaking was slugged in the gut. Shortly after that exchange, the sound of metal smashing into rock started echoing out of the chamber. Apparently there was more than one digger there because other mining sounds started wafting out of the room too.

"Last time we came here, we got close," said the voice Raine recognized. "If only we'd dug a little deeper, we may have found it. But this time I know we're in the right place. Right past this wall is the Sword of Solomon." There was a dramatically deep breath and then, "I can smell it."

Then it hit her. That was the voice of Professor Rafleur. She hadn't heard it in a while, but she was sure that it was his voice.

"_So he's mixed up in all of this too. Raine… This is nothing like this in the game… err… This is getting really heavy. This clearly goes a lot deeper than relics of some ancient civilization. What have we gotten into?_"

Cho motioned to her to stay quiet and follow. He slowly crept forward. Around the curve in the hall was an entrance into a room where the hall suddenly broke to the right. If they could get past the doorway without anyone seeing them then…

They had the freedom to sneak up to the side of the door because no one was standing outside keeping watch. When they got next to the door, Cho slowed down and pressed himself against the wall. With a quick look, Cho motioned for her to go.

She dashed past the entrance as quietly as she could. However, she did sneak a look into the room. As she fear, Professor Rafleur was standing there with several other men. All of their backs were to the entrance as they watched another group of men, who looked to be students from the Palmacosta Academy, picking away at a beautiful wall mural.

"_Raine… don't even think about it._"

The instant she saw that, her blood boiled. She was halfway through turning around and marching into the room when Cho grabbed onto her. He clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her the rest of the way past the door.

"_Whew… saved by the old guy._"

"We can't let them get through that wall before we reach the treasure room on the other side," Cho whispered tersely into her ear.

"But they're destroying priceless artifacts! We can't-"

"They'll do far worse if they get through," Cho said as he dragged her away. Neither of them noticed a head pop out of the door. Rafleur watched them go before he went back into the room.

"Looks like we've got some rats," Rafleur said. The tall person he spoke to, a balding man with an eye patch over his left eye and a long scar that cut across the both cheeks and the bridge of his nose, nodded back in understanding.

"Okay, boys, looks like we get to have some fun after all," the gruff man said. He picked a sword up from where it leaned against the wall and walked out of the room. Three of the men digging at the wall dropped the pick-axes they were using and left the room as well. This left Rafleur and the six Academy students alone in the room.

"Keep working," Rafleur said. "Put your backs into it."

* * *

Cho stopped again, cocking his head to the side. "It looks like we were noticed," he said after listening for a bit. "I hear five, no six, and they're well armed too…"

"Well then, let's hurry," Raine said. "How much longer is it?"

"Too long…" Cho glanced ahead and then back the way they'd come. "We need to divert their attention so that one of us can get to the treasure before they break through the wall." Cho started studying the walls suddenly. He moved down quickly until he found another one of the false walls. "_Luchy_, go through here. On the other side is a path way that leads into the training area. At the end of the training run is the treasure room. It shouldn't take you too long to get there, and while you're making your way there, I'll continue on and lead these buffoons in a circle. I'll meet you on the other end."

"Wait," she said before Cho had a chance to leave. "Why can't I go with you? And why can't you come this way? Surely they won't find this doorway?"

"Better to have any advantage we can get," Cho said. "Now go. We don't have a lot of time."

Cho was gone down the tunnel before she could ask anymore questions. With a resigned sigh, Raine turned and passed through the masked doorway. On the other side was a short tunnel that ended in a wall, no doubt another false wall. As she made her way down the tunnels, she started noticing pictures carved into the walls where there were none before.

"_Do you think that old guy will be okay?_"

"I don't see why not," she said, pausing to look at one picture where a man was being stabbed to death by a five headed monster. She moved on before any more ideas could be placed in her mind as to what she should expect in these 'training grounds'. "He probably knows this place like the back of his hand."

"_I guess it's best that he's playing the bait. __I wonder what this treasure is. Do you think it's that Sword of Solomon that the other guy was talking about?_"

"Could be, though I've no clue who Solomon is. Perhaps some ancient hero of the Krona. I… simply must ask Cho when we meet back up with him."

"_You… are an archeological freak. You know that?_"

"I can't believe you don't find all of this wonderful knowledge fascinating. This is the most important discovery in my life! All of this ancient knowledge wasn't in any of the history books at the Academy! I could write a book, no an entire encyclopedia about all of this."

"_Sure, if you live long enough to._"

"I don't plan on dying any time soon." The voice was, thankfully, silent after that. But she knew that he wasn't convinced. Frankly, she didn't convince herself with that response either. "Let us focus on the present before we start talking about what might happen."

"_Okay. Where is this training room then? All I see are the same walls as before._"

"No," Raine said, "not entirely the same walls." She pause at another picture carving, this one of several men on a pyramid holding the heads of other men. "All of these violent pictures speak of a violent history."

"_Huh…_"

"What is it?"

"_Something about that last drawing looked similar to something from my home._"

"What part of it?" Raine moved back to the carving of the men holding heads on a pyramid. "It looks quite similar to the other ones we've seen so far."

"_Nothing in particular, but the style of drawing is similar to what I've seen in the Aztec drawings… Not exactly the same, but very similar._"

"That reminds me," Raine said. "When this is all over, you and me are going to have a long chat about who you are and where you come from. Not to mention what you've been doing in my body."

"_Hehe, you afraid of what I've seen while in here? Don't worry too much. I got used to it, to the point that it doesn't even phase me anymore. I have been in here over a year, remember?_"

She felt her cheeks get warmer as her imagination came to life. "That's quite enough out of you, young man," she said. "I-"

"_Just what makes you think you can stop me? Raine? Hello? I know you're awake because you're eyes are- Holy crap, that's a big room._"

Raine stood on a precipice looking down into a maze. The maze filled a room that had to be as large as half of Triet. On the other side was a clearly marked exit with a pathway leading down into the maze.

"The training grounds," Raine said. "I never imagined it would be something so… so…"

"_Ludicrous? Ridiculous? Maddeningly insane? Flippantly large? Obnoxiously huge?_"

"You have too many ways of being wrong. This is magnificent! I can scarcely imagine the culture it took to come up with something so grand. If this is what their warriors trained in, then imagine what their kings lived in, the grand buildings, the way they must have lived their every day lives." She clasped her hands in front of her and whimpered happily. "This is… so beautiful."

"_Let's get down there and get across already. We're not getting any younger, scratch that, you're not getting any younger standing here, staring. I don't think I age in here._"

"Quite right! There's got to be hundreds of priceless artifacts down there that need rescuing from obscurity. With enough proof, no one could stop me from revealing this to the world! Mwaaaaahahahahahahahahaha!"

"_Oh dear God, she's gone into overdrive._"

* * *

Preview

Part Three: Lessons

Chapter Seven: The Sword of Solomon

Summary: Raine traverses the Warriors Training Grounds in search of the Hidden Treasure of the Krona. Above her, the Trust pursues the old man and his family. Elsewhere, Professor Rafleur grows closer to getting through the wall between him and his goal. But what exactly was it about a sword that merited an entire temple filled with traps to protect it?


	7. Chapter 7

Quetzalcoatl's Chain

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales.

* * *

Arc One: Discovery

Part Three: Lessons

Chapter Seven: The Sword of Solomon

* * *

"_Raine._"

Raine picked up a piece of plaster and blew the sand and dust from its surface. Giddily, she squealed and thrust the plaster into her satchel before moving onto the next piece. She repeated the process, moving down the wall toward an archway.

"_Raine!_"

"Oh would you look at how wondrous all of these artifacts are. They're… perfect."

"_Yeah, perfectly broken. Are you done? Can we hurry up and get that sword before the bad guys do?_"

"I will not leave this room without taking adequate samples. You'll simply have to wait." With that, she blew the dust off of a chunk of the wall that had fallen to the floor, squealed when she found a pictures relief carved into one side, and thrust that into her satchel. "I can't believe this large of an archeological find has been lying down here in wait this whole time, right beneath Triet! Mwahahaha! This is utterly fantastic!"

"_Okay, I get it, you want to find and catalogue every piece of historically significant material that you can find._"

"I'm glad you see it my way," she said, tossing a rock back into the pile she found it in upon discovering that it was, in fact, just a rock. "Hmm, maybe there's some more in the next room." Raine turned and moved toward the archway through which another room was visible.

"_Raine stop!_" She paused for a moment, several inches from crossing the threshold of the archway. While she waited she crossed her arms and began to quickly tap her right foot. "_I get why you want to do this, alright. I get it. But don't you think that the damage those ruffians could do to the Sword of Solomon, an ancient relic of these people with greater value than this training grounds, would be a worse thing to suffer than to have missed a possibly important piece of crumbling plaster?_"

"Hmm." She had to admit, the voice did have a valid point. And there was no telling if that guy chasing the old man would find his way in here. Then she'd be cornered with no way out. And she didn't have anything to defend herself either. "You may be right," she said.

"_Oh thank God. Now let's go the other way, I think I saw-_"

"So I'll get right on that right after I inspect this room here for precious artifacts!" She quickly strode through the archway and into the next room. Her eyes were wide as she searched high and low for anything significant that stood out at her. She also ignored the voice's irate response.

As soon as she stepped over the threshold and into the room, the torches lining the walls went out. The sound of stone scraping over stone started up behind her. She whirled around just in time to watch a slab of stone fill the last of the entrance, cutting off the last of the light from the previous room.

"_We're cut off! Damn! I told you to go the other way!_"

"Arguing about it won't get us anywhere," she responded bitterly. She knew this was her fault, that if it weren't for her inability to resist ruins, she'd be long gone by now. "Instead, let's try and find a way out of here."

"_Yeah, yeah. There's was a door on the other side of the room, let's try over there._"

Her heart hammered away in her chest as she slowly scraped a foot forward over the floor. She tried to recall in her mind what the room looked like before the lights went out, but came up with nothing. She was trying to remember so hard that when her foot went over an edge into a hole, she barely managed to pull back before she fell in. In the end, her heart was still hammering and her nerves were still burning, but now she lay on her side.

"That," she gasped, "was too close. I'm never going to make my way out of here if I can't see."

"_I was going to ask… never mind. I, however, can see. At least, sort of. The image I'm seeing in here is wavering in and out rhythmically._"

"You can see in this darkness? But how? I thought you could only see what I see." She frowned in the darkness and waved a hand back and forth in front of her face. Nothing but pitch blackness, though she felt the air moving over her face. "How can you see anything?"

"_Like I said, I'm not seeing like I normally do. It's differing… like radar or something._"

"What is ray-dar?" She imagined a Sting Ray and tried to mix it with a dart. The end result made little sense. "No, no matter. It doesn't make any sense, nor does it have to. If you can see, then that will work for me."

"_Err… right._"

Raine pushed herself onto her knees and carefully stood up. Her legs felt week and her head swam as she attempted to stay up. At length, she was still, though every now and then her body would shiver someplace.

"Can we hurry this up, I feel like I'm going to fall over any moment."

"_Yeah, uh… crap…_"

"What?"

"_Oh wait… no… crap, not again._"

"WHAT?"

"_I think I know what I'm seeing… Amazing. It's like that movie about the blind guy who sees sounds. I'm seeing in sound waves… it's rather odd though._"

"So… you need sound to see? Maybe…" She concentrated on her vision, summoning some Mana as she did so to try and boost her sight. Of course, nothing happened. It was still completely pitch black in the room. "No," she said, "I can't see it. Why can you see and I can't?"

"_I don't have any answers. But if you want to get out of here, I think I can guide you to the exit. It's open on the other side of the room._"

"I have a bad feeling about this." She said this just as she reached her foot forward again. She felt her toes go over the edge again, but this time didn't lose her balance. "Are you sure?"

"_Trust me._"

* * *

"How much longer," Rafleur asked. "This wall can't be that thick. Dig faster."

He crossed his arms as the students he'd brought with him went continuously at the wall before him. On the other side was the Warrior's Training Grounds. Specifically, in this corner of the four quarter room, was the Sword of Solomon. Something his master had been after for many, many years.

"The rats got away." Rafleur turned toward the tall, imposing man that entered the room. "My boys are checking to make sure, but I'm pretty sure they've slipped the noose. Won't matter though, since at the least, they've been kept busy, running, for the last five hours."

"Good work, Yealtan," Rafleur said. "We should be through this wall soon, and then we'll have what the masters were looking for."

"Hmph." Yealtan reached up and rubbed at the crease in his skin under his left eye, where the black patch dug into his cheek bone. "I was hoping there would be more than just security detail on this trip. My boys and I had more fun hunting those damn runaways from A Ranch."

Rafleur frowned. "I know this isn't to your liking, but if I didn't know any better, you sound like you're complaining." He glanced at Yealtan, who was sneering. The facial expression made the scar across his face curl downwards. This made his whole face look like it was frowning.

"I really hate you academic types," Yealtan snarled. "Always sticking your heads up someone higher's ass. Never brave enough to do the dirty work, so you leave it to guys like me. Guys willing to do what needs to be done."

"Don't get the wrong impression," Rafleur said. "I appreciate all you and your men have done. And I'm sure the masters do as well, since they've already rewarded you very well thus far."

"Hmph." Yealtan wrinkled his nose and left the room. Rafleur watched him go before he turned and belted out some more 'encouragement' at his students. The wall, under the constant deluge of pick-axes, was beginning to give. Light could be seen from the other side through cracks.

* * *

"_Okay, now, jump as far as you can._"

Raine didn't move a muscle. Beneath her feet, she could feel where the very thin foot path, barely wide enough to stand on, fell away from beneath her toes and the back of her heel. She wasn't entirely sure how she was even keeping balance. Ever second, in this pitch blackness, she imagined falling backwards or forwards to her death. That's how the entire trip across this death trap of foot paths was.

"_Raine, trust me, there's a platform on the other side of this gap. And the door too. Just jump already!_"

"You told me to trust you the last four times I nearly fell off of this death trap pathway," she rasped. She dare not raise her voice too loud for fear she'd propel herself backwards. Once again she marveled at how she wasn't falling yet. "I can't believe I'm going to die in here!"

"_You won't die. Just jump. The gap is only four feet, at least._"

"At least?"

"_At most! At most! Look, you can't go back and the only option you have left is to go forward. So jump already!_"

She shuddered as she crouched a little, preparing to leap into the darkness. "If I fall to my death, then I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life." The voice remained silent as she took a deep breath, felt her heart hammering loudly in her chest and inside her head, and leapt.

The moment her feet left the foot path, she gasped instinctively. Her eyes widened as the pit of her stomach dropped out from beneath her. As she reached the apex of her leap and began to fall back down, her eyes popped open to see nothing. A short scream left her lips moments before she smashed into a floor and crumpled to the ground.

Breathing hard, she blinked and looked back the way she'd jumped. As she did, the torches lining the wall came back to life, magically re-igniting themselves. Revealed to her was the twisted, topsy-turvy, veritable death trap that the voice had somehow navigated her through.

"_Wow... That doesn't look intimidating._"

"I can't believe you got me though that," she said. Carefully, as if she still wasn't sure where she was standing, Raine got back to her feet. After wallowing in her bewilderment, she turned and, finding the doorway just in front of her, walked forward. As she stepped over the threshold, she slowed her pace as she waited for something to change, the floor to drop away or the torches along the wall to go out again. But none of that happened.

In the next room, she found two things. Another door and a glass bladed sword. Walking up to the sword, she kneeled down and began inspecting it.

"This is the Sword of Solomon?" Raine tilted her head to the left, her bangs falling past her eyes "Well this is an unorthodox weapon."

"_Try pulling it out._"

"But that would ruin its environment," she said, standing back up. "And what if pulling it out sets off another trap? I simply can't... no, I couldn't." Despite what she was saying, her hand reached out toward the hilt until her fingertips were gliding over the grip. "But then again... it does need to be catalogued..."

"_And to top it off, those men destroyed a priceless wall of unknown significance. They'd probably break this glass sword by simply looking at it._"

Raine's hand was around the sword's hilt before the voice had finished speaking. With a sharp tug, the blade was free of the ground and before anyone could say or think anything, she'd already stuffed the sword, which was only two feet in length from pommel to point, into her belt.

"Now, let us find our way out of here so we can catch up to the old man," Raine said.

She quickly walked away from the former pedestal of the sword and through the door next to it. Through the door was a relatively dark room with only a single beam of light illuminating the center of the room from above. On the floor was a set of concentric rings descending from the largest circle of about three feet in diameter to a small dot at the center.

Slowly walking around the illuminated circle, Raine glanced about the room, but other than the circle, nothing really stood out. Nor were there any other exits.

"Hmm... There are no other exits, but surely they don't intend for the successful warrior to go backwards, do they?"

"_What are you talking about?_"

"These are the Warrior's Training Grounds. Did you forget?" Seeing no other option, Raine started for the illuminated circle of light.

"_Uh... yeah, I remembered. Of course they don't intend for use to go back. There must be some kind of switch or something to trip so we can continue._"

"Exactly my thinking," Raine said as she bent over and started to examine the concentric circles. The rings were made of a reflective silver metal inlaid into a polished white stone. She couldn't find a single blemish on the stone's surface nor any corrosion of the metal. "You catch on quick. That's good. I'm convinced the key to this switch has something to do with these circles. However, I have no clue what that switch is or how to flip it."

"_Could it have anything to do with that glass sword?_"

"The sword?" She pulled the sword from her belt and examined it in the light. Almost immediately another beam of light appeared from the ceiling, illuminating a pedestal with a notch in it's center. Raine breathed out a, "Fantastic," as all of this happened. "This must be what opens the exit. But..."

Raine walked up to the pedestal and leaned in close. The notch was perfectly shaped to fit the point of the sword into. Looking at the sword again and then back at the pedestal, she said, "Could it really be that simple?"

"_Only one way to find out._"

She shrugged and pushed the glass sword into the notch. It slid in smoothly, without even the sound of glass scraping against the stone that the pedestal was made from. As soon as the sword stopped going into the notch, there was a loud click. The mechanism released closed the door they'd entered through and opened another door.

Above the concentric circles a holographic image appeared of a man kissing woman. The image held for several seconds before it disappeared. Raine stood and watched the space above the circles for several seconds, waiting to see if anything else showed up. But nothing did.

"Well, that was odd," she said. "But it looks like a new path has opened, let's g-" Raine stopped talking she was jerked back by the hand holding the glass sword's hilt. She frowned and tugged on it harder, but it wouldn't even wiggle. "What? It's stuck!"

"_Try pulling harder._"

"I... am!" She gave up pulling on the sword and settled on glaring at it. The crystal clear blade gleamed in the light, as if it were winking at her, which only served to irritate her. "Fine, if I can't get it out, then those men chasing after us won't either, so I suppose it'll just have to stay here."

"_We should let Cho know where this room is though, so he can come back for it after we escape._"

She nodded as she walked quickly from the room. A thrill of excitement ran through her as the prospect of getting free filled her. She could finally be out of this death trap and on her way back to Iselia. Not to mention that she had so many new artifacts to share with the world, and she knew where to find more.

The excitement quickly died when she got into the next room only to find it only had one entrance which also served as the exit. There was another glass sword in this room as well, stuck into the ground. Raine turned around quickly to look back into the room, but the other sword was still in there, illuminated from above.

Frowning, Raine moved into the new room and toward the new sword. This room, unlike the last two, was completely devoid of anything but a gritty sandy floor and a light coming from above that she wasn't entirely sure of the source. It was as if the entire ceiling was glowing, which was impossible because the ceiling was made of rock.'

"_Weirder and weirder. Do you suppose Cho was right when he said this place was built during his grandfather's generation? This whole area has been far too sophisticated for even today's people to build_"

"This..." Raine slowed as she neared the second sword. "I'm not sure, but I'm going to call Extra-magi-technology for the moment. Thus far, if that last room and the room before are anything to go by, this technology is far more powerful than any of the samples of Magi-technology that I've ever seen. It makes me wonder…"

"_Why wasn't it used instead of Magi-technology then? A great many bad things could have been averted if there was no Mana Drain to kill the Giant Kharlan Tree._" Raine inspected the sword and found nothing different about it from the first one she'd found. "_There must be a good reason this kind of technology wasn't used. Maybe no one knows how to build it or the power source was worse than Mana._"

"How could anything be worse than using up all the Mana in the world?" she asked as she pulled the glass sword free of the sand. She turned around just in time to see the door begin to grind shut. "Great," she muttered, knowing she didn't have enough time to get back through before it closed. "I think I should have expected that."

"_I'm beginning to see a pattern here._"

"Be quiet you." She grimaced as she started looking about the desolately barren room. "There must be a way to open the door again. Or just to move on to the next room. However..." She looked down at the sword in her hand. "In the last puzzle I got the sword only after defeating it, but here, I got the sword first."

She suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up on end. Her body reacted on its own, diving forward on instinct. From her sprawled out position on the floor she looked over her shoulder and saw what looked like an exact mirror copy of herself. The only major differences were the eyes of the clone, which were entirely black, and the giddy grin that this copy seemed unable to get rid of.

"Why hello, me," the clone said. It stooped down and picked up the glass sword she had dropped when she dove for the ground.

"What?" she croaked. The clone tilted its head to the side and pouted. The pout only lasted for a few seconds before the unnatural grin returned.

"I'm happy," the clone said. "So happy that I'm going to kill you! Ha!"

The clone lunged at her, but she rolled to the side and sprang to her feet. Without waiting for the clone to attack again, she ran for the door. When she got to the part of the wall where the door had been, she started searching for a latch or something that would release it. Behind her, the clone laughed as it slowly walked toward her.

"I'm open to any idea's here," she murmured as she continued to fail to find any door latches. "Hello, are you up there?"

"_I'm a bit... occupied at the moment. Whoa!_"

"Hey, other me," the clone said. The closeness of the voice caught her attention and she turned only to duck as the clone's sword bit into the wall where her neck used to be. "Are you going to talk to yourself and run away all day or are you going to die already?"

Again, the clone smiled that disturbing grin. It wrenched the sword free of the wall and went at her. She managed to duck out of the way at the last second. Rolling to a halt, she scrambled to her feet and ran toward the next corner of the room, her heart hammering in her chest. Fatigue screamed at her from her muscles and chest, her breathing quickened.

In her head, a similar scene was playing out, or at least, that's what she thought she was hearing. The voice was grunting, shouting, and making other unidentifiable sounds. She could only assume that the voice was fending off a clone of itself. That meant there were two voices in her head right now... the thought alone made her slightly sick to her stomach.

Huffing and puffing, she reached the corner and turned around. The clone was several yards away, walking toward her slowly, grinning and laughing like an idiot. As thoroughly disturbing as that was, the voices clone suddenly laughing insanely in her head was more so. She hoped it was the voice's clone's… voice… Now she was getting confused.

"Stop running away, please," the clone said. "I just want to cut you open with this sword and maybe spread your entrails around a little. It won't hurt... much."

Remembering the previous puzzle, she swallowed and muttered, "I've come through too much to give up now. There's got to be a way out of this just like in the other room. But what? This is insane!"

"Let me kill you and then you can be happy too," the clone droned. She lifted her sword high into the air ready to strike as she closed in on Raine.

"Think!" Raine shouted. Though she shouted it at the clone, she was really screaming it at herself. "There has to be something I'm missing here."

"_Ugh… that was gross…_"

Raine grimaced as a wave of nausea rolled over her. What exactly was going on in her head anyway? As the clone moved in she started jogging toward another corner of the room. The clone grinned and followed after her, its pace quickening, the copy sword raised high above its head.

"_Okay… I'm pretty sure that I've learned how to defeat this one… but you're not going to like it._"

"Just tell me!" she shouted as she started running faster. The clone was also running now. "I don't think I can run for much longer."

"_You have to kiss her._"

"What?" Her gait faltered and she almost tripped over her own feet. She caught herself at the last moment though. "You must be insane! She's trying to kill me!"

"_Remember that image of the man kissing the woman? That was the clue for this room. You got to defeat your foe with love._"

Raine stumbled and felt her legs collapse underneath her. She was gasping for air as she pushed herself up with her hands. Her legs burned from the previous exertion and refused to move. Her brow furrowing, she watched the clone slow to a leisurely pace as she came closer and closer.

"And now you die," the clone said, "isn't that wonderful?" The clone smiled beamingly, closing her eyes.

"I can't believe I'm going to do this," Raine said. As the clone raised the sword over her head, Raine kicked out with her feet and knocked the clone off of hers. As the clone fell, Raine reached out, grabbed the clone by the jacket, and pulled her into a lip locked kiss.

After several seconds, Raine came up for air and blinked in surprise. The clone was gone. The sword was now stabbed into the ground a few feet away.

"_Wow… that was kinda hot._"

She felt her cheeks burning as she got to her feet. She swiftly tugged the glass sword from the ground and stalked back in silent agony to the now open door. Once inside of the room, she walked into the beam of light illuminating the concentric circles. Another sword pedestal lit up.

"I believe I see where this is going," Raine said. She placed the sword into the new pedestal until it clicked. Once again, the old door closed and a new one opened. Above the circles a holograph of a teacher standing in front of a group of children showed for a few seconds. "As I suspected. And the clue this time looks simple enough to figure out."

"_Has anything in this place been simple?_"

* * *

Ralfeur snarled as the new information sank in. They weren't as far through the wall he'd thought. The light he saw coming through the cracks was actually coming from the rocks on the other side. This wasn't new to him, since his master had some of these same rocks in his office. However, it did mean that he was behind on schedule.

"Hurry it up," he barked, "or I'll take it out of your hides. And you lot can forget about the letter of recommendation." That threat got these students into motion. He could see they were fatigued after several hours of work. But he wasn't going to let their weaknesses stop him. Not this time.

"Yealtan, any luck picking up the trail of the rat who got away?" Rafleur asked as he looked away from the sweaty students wailing away at the wall. "I seem to have run into a wall myself. It won't be that much longer but it has put my schedule back."

"You and your schedules," Yealtan muttered. "No, I haven't found the rat, however, he's been leaving clues and signs of passage here and there. He even led us to one of the secret passages. I have my boys running a dragnet through the ruins right now. They'll capture him or drive him to us. It's only a matter of time."

"I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky for having someone from the family that we can capture," Rafleur bit out. It pleased him greatly to see the scarred man turn several shades of red.

"You pompous- We both know someone tipped the old man off. Don't you dare try and blame that on me. If it was anyone, it was that over grown fatso that did it."

"That 'fatso' is more than trustworthy. He knows we're his only way back home and he wouldn't dare mess up his chances." Rafleur glanced back at the wall, finally seeing an opening through the glowing stones. "Ah, finally. Some progress."

* * *

The stone doorway opened to reveal a roiling inferno. From the depths of the flames emerged a running person. She ran into the darkened room and collapsed to the ground, breathing hard.

Raine threw off her smoking jacket and started patting down her body to put out any smoldering parts of her clothes. There were several spots on her shirt and pants where black-edged holes showed the pink, fire enflamed skin beneath. Once she was certain that she was no longer on fire, Raine fell onto her back and loosed a scream that echoed back and forth across the chamber.

"_That… was too close._ _How did you pull that off? I've never seen anyone concentrating that hard before._"

"I'm trying," she said between gasps, "to become a teacher. Discipline is key."

Groaning, she rolled onto her side and sat up. Her entire body ached like nothing before. At least the plague had the decency to sap all her energy so she wasn't awake. Dragging herself to her feet, she went through the process of revealing a third sword pedestal and placing the third glass sword into it, opening the next door.

"I hope this is the last room," she grumbled. As soon as she crossed through the door it started closing. She was in another hallway like the one she'd found the first glass sword in. She followed the path until it opened up into a wide open room. Directly on the other side, at the top of a set of stairs with a light shining down from above onto it, was the fourth glass sword.

"_I hate this room._"

Raine nodded, too tired to voice her agreement. There wasn't anything in this room to stop her from getting the sword except, of course, the floor. Or more specifically, the lack of one. Just a bottomless pit stood between this side of the room and the other.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

"_Too bad we didn't look at the picture it was supposed to show us._"

"I'm surprised I haven't keeled over already… must be this Exsphere." Raine lifted her arm to look at the gem embedded on the back of her hand. "It's strange. Phaidra and the doctor said I was going to have trouble exerting myself, but this thing makes it all better."

"_At a price… Anyway, let's figure out how to get across. Maybe there's a bridge somewhere._"

"I don't see one," she said, looking around. The only light in the room was the one coming down on the sword from above. This left the rest of the room in stark relief of lost and found contours and lines. Ceiling looked little better than the hole in the ground, stalactites hanging at odd angles. "It looks like there may have been some other kind of test in here before some kind of catastrophe. After, the ceiling caved in and the floor fell away."

"_None of which helps our current situation. Every room before this had a logical, if unorthodox, solution. And there's been three different themes from each of the other rooms. We know this is the Warrior's training ground. So far we've had the kissing room._"

"We'll be calling that the love room. There was also the discipline room, and that room where you could see in sound."

"_Right, so that's three attributes of a warrior. What's a fourth?_"

"Love, Discipline, Awareness, and-"

"_Courage._"

"Yes… courage. Every warrior needs courage. So then… what would be a courageous thing to do in this room?" Raine leaned forward and looked over the edge into the blackened abyss below. "I think whatever courageous thing that used to be in this room is down there now."

"_What if… it's not? What if the courageous thing to do is to leap into the abyss?_" Raine continued to look about the abyss silently. At length, the voice said, "_Hey! Don't ignore m-_"

"I am not jumping to my death," Raine said matter-of-factly. "You can forget it."

"_Look, I don't want to die either. As far as I know, if you die, I die. But think about it. A Warrior needs the courage to face death all the time. It's part and parcel to being a warrior. Going to war, facing your possible death at the hand of another man._"

"But not at your own," Raine snapped. "Stop trying, you're not going to convince me."

"_So… you don't have any courage to do it for yourself, I understand. Then don't do it for yourself. Do it for the others. The old man. Hell, if you don't get that sword, you'll likely never leave this hole. Genis will grow up-_"

"Shut up!" She screamed. She was bone tired of this voice. "Just shut up! You think I don't know what will happen? Do you think I even want to be down here? If it wasn't for you and this damn chain, I wouldn't even be here! This is your fault! Just shut up and leave," Raine reached into her shirt and grabbed the chain, "me," and with a sharp tug ripped the chain free of her neck. With a scornful glare, she screamed, "ALONE!" at the top of her lungs as she chucked the chain into the abyss. She watched, her chest heaving with the emotions running through her, as the chain glinted in the light before it sailed deep into the darkness.

She paced back and forth. Sat down and tried to meditate. Even punched her fist bloody on the wall. Sobbed while slumping to the floor. "There's no other way," she moaned. "I don't want to die. But there's no other way." She stood and walked to the edge of the precipice. Her throat felt dry, she swallowed but it didn't help. Briskly rubbing her cheeks and taking a deep breath, Raine made herself still. "I'm sorry, Genis," she said. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her leg, and stepped forward into the abyss.

She fell, the air billowing past her for all of three seconds before she smashed face first into the floor. She choked on her surprised and floundered on the floor as she scrambled to get back to her feet.

"No!" she rasped. She sat up and looked back at the bottomless pit and found it was still there. Somehow, she'd just stepped right over it. "No! I- how? That's… impossible."

"_A-are you better now?_" Raine looked down and saw the chain sitting in a pile. It's metal glinted at her. "_I'm sorry. What I said was… out of line._"

She sighed. "No," she said. "You were right. It was all an illusion."

"_No, not about that._" She frowned. The voice sounded nervous. "_I shouldn't have said those things to get you to jump. Especially about Genis._"

"Yes…" Raine grabbed the chain and pushed herself to her feet. A sudden wave of emotional fatigue washed over her, but she pushed through it. She turned and started up the stairs while reattaching the chain around her neck and hiding it beneath her shirt. "You're forgiven."

She saw the sword before she reached the top. The blade was glass just as the previous ones, but there appeared to be small green gems attached to it as well. Frowning, she walked up to the sword and pulled it out of the ground. She held the blade up to inspect it.

"That's odd… these look like Exspheres."

"Luchy!" Cho ran burst through an invisible wall. He was bruised over much of his body and had bloody cuts running across his front and arms. Raine frowned and her eyes narrowed when she recognized the wound pattern. This was exactly what he looked like when he ran into his house and told her to go out and wait for him.

"Didn't you have those wounds when we were back at the house?" she asked.

Cho looked at her confused and then, eyes widening in realization, shook his head. "No that wasn't me… rather, that will be me, just not yet. You've got the sword-" Raine held up the sword. "-good. Then let us get to the central chamber of the testing grounds."

"How do you know about that?" Raine asked.

"_I have two theories. Time travel and time travel._"

"No time." Almost as if in response to the old man's words, the wall next to them suddenly started cracking. Pieces of it started crumbling away and the sounds of pickaxes and voice started wafting through it. "Shoot. We need to hurry."

"This way." Raine turned and hurried back down the stairs. Cho followed close behind as behind them crumbling rocks and shouts of success rose in volume. As they reached the bottom and Raine ran up to and jumped over the chasm, someone behind them shouted back through the hole that they'd made it through. Just as Cho and Raine disappeared into the central chamber, and the door closed behind them, one of the students noticed them and pointed them out to Rafleur.

"That's them," he said. With a smirk, he turned to Yealtan and said, "Looks like I found your rat for you. I don't think we'll be needing you or your men anymore tonight. You can go back and report to the masters."

Yealtan sneered as he turned away from Rafleur and didn't give the researcher a second look as he stepped back through the hole dug through the wall and started rounding his men up to leave. Rafleur chuckled and started down the stairs. When he got to the bottom, he stopped to inspect the chasm between the two sides of the room.

"How do you think they got over there?" A student asked, walking to stand next to him.

"I don't know," Rafleur said. "But why don't you find out." Without waiting for the boy to respond, Rafleur put his hand on the boy's back and pushed him forward into the pit. The boy fell screaming and died in a very audible splat several minutes later. "I suppose there's no invisible bridge then," Rafleur mused. "Boys, break out the rope bridge. We've got a chasm to span."

The students, motivated by the barked orders of their professor and the threat of doing to them what he did to their comrade in the chasm, quickly pieced together a bridge made of wooden planks and knotted rope. The result was a sturdy bridge that could easily hold the weight of two people and long enough cross the chasm. Once on the other side, Rafleur put the students back to mining, this time the door into the central chamber.

As their picks got close to busting through, Rafleur said, "They had the sword in their hands when this door closed." Just then one of the student's pickaxes busted through.

Rafleur pulled the student back and extracted the pickaxe. Then he leaned in close and put his eye up to the hole. On the other side, in the next room, he could see… nothing. No one. In fact, if he eyes weren't deceiving him, he'd swear that by the layer of dust on the floor, no one had been in this room for centuries. Slowly pulling back, Rafleur carefully got to his feet and started pacing back across the bridge with his head down.

"Professor, are we done here?"

"Yes," Rafleur said, not looking back as he slowly ascended the stairs. "Pack up your things. We're going back." The students looked at each other, relieved to be free of this nightmare. If any of them cared about him, they would have asked what the troubled expression on their teacher's face was for.

* * *

Preview

Part Four: A New Beginning

Chapter Eight: Seven and One-half years

Summary: The time of the oracle has come to Iselia. Colette, the Chosen of Mana, has been called to accept the Oracle. And her guardian, Raine Sage, is to accompany her. But two of Raine's other students have other ideas.


End file.
